The Salient Link
by Torrenta
Summary: For every question there is an answer. For every answer, there is a unique dimension representing that answer. What if the Mane 6 were seven? What if a human soldier was reborn in Equestria? Each has its own dimension. But the greatest question of all, for which there is no answer is this: what if all those answers, all those dimensions, collided?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes. This story is an aventure involving the OCs of several popular and/or excellently written My Little Pony fan fictions. The stories that have joined together here include: A Mending Soul, Orbit, Truly Alive, Guardians of Equestria, A New Hero, Wings of Fate, Human in Equestria: A Voice Within, Kingdom of Everfree, and A New Beginning. **

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Flaming Star ~ A Mending Soul by Torrenta

Eclipse ~ Orbit by The Federation Justice

Flash Drive ~ Truly Alive by To Define Life

* * *

The Everfree forest was silent and serene. The kind of lull that hangs over a sea before a storm dwelled over the landscape. Deep within the forest was a giant gorge. Long trailing vines wound their way down and through the rocks, weaving a soft green tapestry across the stone faces. At the core of the gorge was a cave, and within that cave was none other than the Tree of Harmony.

For centuries this tree had been the center of Equestrian legend, for the Tree of Harmony was the center of none other than the pure harmony energy that flowed throughout the planet. It fed the earth, healed it, and kept black magic at bay. However, one of the most defining features of the tree was the Elements of Harmony. These powerful embodiments of good and light – legend has it – had been brought forth into the world many times over during the course of the history of the universe. These elements would be given to great pony heroes in the time of need, and they would be used to vanquish whatever great evils that had risen up. Unfortunately, once the tasks had been completed, the elements would be placed back into the tree where they would dwell indefinitely until another great day of need.

That day… had just arrived. Deep within the cave the Tree of Harmony stirred. Dust fell from the cave roof as the great tree shifted, and its roots murmured quietly. Suddenly, six massive flashed of light erupted from the six great branches, where the elements of harmony were contained. Softly the branches vibrated as the light subsided and six smoking crystals of red, yellow, pink, green, blue, and purple fell to the earth. The rumbling settled and the small rocks and stones that tumbled from the cave's mouth ceased movement. Silence fell over the Everfree forest once more.

However, just like before, the silence was broken. This time it was broken by two massive flashes of light. Colorful bolts of energy spiraled out of nowhere and scorched the earth in a physical cacophony of light and sound. In the midst of the beautiful chaos, two powerful bipedal beings stepped out. One was tall and lithe, and the other was short and muscular.

The taller of the two was wearing full body armor colored white. Gray bands of color and down from his shoulder pads to his armored gauntlets. The being wore a powerful masked helmet, and his visor was shaped like a diamond, with triangular markings on either side of his helmet. The shorter wore white full body armor as well, but his masked helmet's visor was shaped like an open flame. The two stood there for a moment, observing the six elements of harmony for a moment… then… The shorter of the two started to dance.

_"Heeeyyy! Heeeyyy! What's the matter with your heeeaaad? YEAH…_

_Heeeyyy! Heeeyyy! What's the matter with your mind and all your sighing?_

_And-a ooooohhh…_

_Heeeyyy! Heeeyyy! Nothing's a matter with your head, baby, find it!_

_Come on and find it!_

_Heeeeeelllll, with it baby, 'cause you're fine and you're mine…_

_And you look so divine…!"_

The jovial voice of the shorter being was sharply interrupted by the cooler, more serious voice of the taller being.

"Doxia, for the love of God, stop it."

Doxia stopped dancing, and then replied, "What is it Mattimeo? I can't have a little fun while I work?"

Mattimeo shook his head slowly. "Irrelevant. Are those what I think they are?"

Doxia snapped a finger. A ball of pure light energy exploded from his right fist, illuminating the dark and dusty cave with colorful, shimmering, sparkles.

In the illumination of the new light, Mattimeo crouched down next to the six crystals, which were still steaming faintly with power.

"Yes…" Mattimeo murmured, "These are most certainly the Elements of Harmony…"

"Great," snorted Doxia, "What are the power levels of the elements this time? Over 9000?"

"That was just as unfunny as your 'don't cross the streams' joke at the brook back there, Doxia," said Mattimeo. However, then he paused. "The levels… They are at 56,900 IEP."

Doxia's quiet chuckling stopped. "What? But… But… That makes no sense. That is more powerful then several universes combined. How did these six simple crystals of hilariously adorable magic get that much power stuffed into them?!"

"My HUD does not lie," replied Mattimeo, "The Elements of Harmony are most certainly at the peak of their power. However, you do know the criteria surrounding the release of the elements, correct?"

Doxia straightened up slowly, and his hands curled up into fists. "The elements are only as powerful as the enemy that the tree has designated as a threat. If the elements are this powerful… than the enemy must be equally as powerful. But who could be at that level? An arch-demon? A rogue Dimensional Lord? H.D.?"

"I do not know, but I've scanned the entire dimension… There are no threats present."

"Hmmmm… That is a problem. But remember it took over 1000 years for the elements to be used against the first threat the tree had identified. You know, the Twilight Sparkle and Nightmare Moon incident."

After saying this, Doxia scratched the back of his helmet and then stretched.

"Hmmmm, I guess we will have to go with that," he continued, "Since we have not identified the threat initially, the only thing to do now is give the elements to the good guys and hope that, when the time comes, they are prepared for what great evil is coming."

"Are you suggesting we give the elements to Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie?" asked Mattimeo warily.

Doxia thought about it for a moment. Then he said, "Yes and no. I intend to give them the elements, but in a unique way."

Mattimeo cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

Doxia tapped the side of his helmet knowingly before continuing, "We will take the elements and give them to three beings from three different alternate My Little Pony dimensions I have taken a liking to. They will take two elements each and distribute them amongst the different Harmony Bearers of their respective My Little Pony dimensions. With the elements scattered across three separate dimensions, there will be little to no hope of any single being ever being able to collect and harness the combined might of the Elements of Harmony."

"Your idea is good. We shall do as you say."

* * *

Eclipse stood regally with her husband Langley in the center of Canterlot courtyard. She looked about calmly, but with wariness in her every movement. This was not her dimension. She had been brought away from her home on the request of her husband, who had been contacted two days earlier by the great being Doxia. Langley told her that they would come here to meet two other beings, and to be given two Elements of Harmony.

Just thinking about the elements caused Eclipse to subconsciously bare her teeth ferociously at a couple of nervous Canterlot guards. Eclipse, in her home, was Nightmare Moon. In her dimension, she had never been Princess Luna, but she had been vanquished and banished by the elements nonetheless, and she hated them for it. However, her husband had insisted that she be with him, and so she agreed to accompany him. She loved him deeply, and would do anything for him.

At that moment, the castle gate of Canterlot opened up… and Flaming Star and his wife Twilight strolled through. He was talking to his wife as they trotted to stand beside Eclipse and Langley.

"I am sure baby Summer will be fine with Fluttershy and Sunset Shadow. They've raised a child together already, so it is not like something astronomically disastrous will happen."

"I know," said Twilight, rather nervously, "But remember that one incident with Doxia, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and those pastries?"

Flaming Star rolled his eyes. "I was trying to forget that incident… I was REALLY trying to forget it. Look, sweetie, this will only take a moment. Doxia wants to present me and a couple of other extradimensional beings with some form of hilariously precious cargo. You know, those extradimensional Elements of Harmony I told you about a couple of days ago. Anyway, once the transaction is complete… we can go back to Ponyville."

At this moment, Langley turned about and noticed the two.

"Flaming Star, Twilight Sparkle, it is good to see you both," the human said. He strolled over to them and shook their forehooves firmly.

"You are… Langley… right?" said Flaming Star amiably, "From the Reset Dimension? You helped during the Paradox-Recovery Operation a couple years ago in my dimension."

Langley nodded. Then he turned to motion towards his own wife, Eclipse. "Yes. And this is my loving wife, Eclipse."

Twilight squeaked. "It… It's Nightmare Moon!"

Flaming Star blinked in shock. Then he said, "Yeah… That's…"

"Spare me your worthless babble, underlings," snapped Eclipse angrily, "I did not come here to be gawked at like I was some worthless exhibition for transportation. Back away slowly."

Flaming Star didn't move an inch. Instead he began to conjure up a bolt of lightning about his hooves. "What… the hell… did you just call my wife and me?" He asked slowly.

Twilight gulped and Langley facepalmed. However, before the situation could escalate further, a massive portal exploded forth. The rip in space, time, and dimension then distorted to facilitate the passage of two beings: Doxia and a pony.

"Ladies and Gentlecolts!" exclaimed Doxia dramatically, "I hereby present to you the astonishing, the amazing, the incredible… Pony Flash Drive! Everyone celebrate!"

There was a pause, then Twilight piped up. "Who is Flash Drive? Oh! Hello! Pleased to meet you!"

Doxia sighed.

"No one ever appreciated my dramatic declarations. Why do I even bother?" he muttered, then he said, a little louder, "This is Flash Drive. He is from the Truly Alive dimension. I've been trailing him and his dimension's Harmony Bearers for quite some time now. You would not believe the things they've been through. It's kinda like the Walking Dead, but not. Zombies and stuff. You see, there is this one virus that has been…"

Doxia's excited ramble was suddenly cut off by a massive blast of colorful light as yet another portal exploded onto the scene. From this portal between dimensions came Mattimeo. He was carrying a heavily armored case.

"Here is the case with the Elements of Harmony!" cried Doxia, attempting to be dramatic once more, "Bask in the glow!"

"That is all well and good, Doxia," interjected Mattimeo, "But perhaps we should 'bask in the glow' with the container open. This group should see what we are entitling to them. You have the passcodes for the safe, correct?"

"Sure do," said Doxia. He gently tapped the front of the container. Suddenly several circular holographic projections erupted from the front and hovered about Doxia's right fingertips. He quickly tapped a few of the circles of light in quick succession. There was a pause… nothing happened.

"You forgot the password again, didn't you?" sighed Mattimeo, putting the box down.

Doxia chortled nervously. "Well, it depends on what you mean by 'forgot." Eh… Okay fine, I forgot. I thought for sure it was Morse code for 'Meshemedada.' Huh. Ah! I think I might have used Meadolax's dog's name, 'rover!' I'll just call him to double check…"

As Doxia scrambled to recover the forgotten password, Flash Drive, Eclipse, Langley, Flaming Star, and Twilight gathered around each other to talk.

Hostilities forgotten in the presence of another new pony, Flaming Star said, to Flash Drive, "Sooooo… A virus? Zombies I am guessing? I'll tell you the truth: I was not originally a pony. I was once a human traveler who leapt amongst the dimensions, thus I know a bit about the Walking Dead."

Flash Drive nodded. He was still tense, and he felt rather confined being amongst these strange ponies. However, they were not infected obviously, and they (with the exception of Eclipse) seemed friendly enough.

"Yeah, zombies. Tell you the truth, I'm not a pony either. However, I've found a way to translate my consciousness, and my friends' consciousness, between my world and the land of Equestria."

There was a pause, then Flash chuckled, rather derisively, before he continued by saying, "I guess it is of no consequence if you really think about it. After all, both places are overrun by zombies."

"What?" asked Langley incredulously, "Both lands have been infected? That's terrible!"

Flash nodded. "I suppose so. But, hey, it is the only home I've got. Doxia promised me some research that could help us find a cure for the virus if I promised to, in return, hide two Elements of Harmony. I've heard tales about the element's abilities… But so much for their powers being things of harmony. Everyone I know is embroiled in chaos."

"It must be so hard, having all these struggles, but good will always win out," said Twilight soothingly.

Flash cracked a grin. "You know what? The Twilight I know from my dimensions is kinda like that too."

At this moment Doxia strolled up to the group. "Sorry for breaking up this non-existent High School reunion, but I have the case open now. The password WAS 'Meshemedada,' I just misspelled it the first time. We are on a tight schedule, so I suggest you guys decide which two crystals you want to take. However, I must warn you, the elements are incredibly fragile, but the power of each individual jewel is incredibly high. Thus the things you will have in your hands – er, I mean hooves – when you leave will be equivalent to billions of atomic bombs squished into a small block of colored glass. However, let me stress, their powers are not to be abused. Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to use them until they are rejoined. The union of the elements stabilizes the joint powers, but using one alone could have disastrous consequences..."

With that, Doxia stepped aside, revealing the case behind him. Six colored stones sat together in a cushioned safe. A strange aura of power surrounded the crystals, and lances of gentle Technicolor light warped and distorted the air about the case.

"So… beautiful…" breathed Twilight in a trance, "My dimension's Elements of Harmony were never so wondrous."

Eclipse felt an urge to flee, but also felt an equally strong urge to draw closer. The energy surrounding the elements was so tantalizing, it was hard to resist.

However, the spell of awe that had fallen over the assembly in the courtyard was broken when Flash trotted purposefully up and pocketed two of the stones. Placing them in his saddlebag, he said, "I have the stones and am prepared to complete the rest of the deal, Doxia, I now ask of you to finish your side of it."

Doxia shook his head in mock mourning. "Can't you apocalypse ponies ever stop for a minute to smell the roses? Oh, I'm sorry, those roses are probably infected with a virus."

Flash blinked, unaffected by the good-natured jab. When Doxia realized he was not about to get a reaction from Flash Drive, he shook his head once more and snapped a finger, opening a portal back to the Truly Alive dimension.

He turned back to the others, who were each selecting two stones from the case. "I will be gone for just a moment."

Flaming Star hefted the Element of Magic and the Element of Kindness as he said, "Goodbye Flash Drive. May the light of He Who Sits on the Throne eternally light your step."

Langley, who was even now pocketing the Element of Laughter and the Element of Generosity, looked up as well and said, "Good luck, Flash Drive, may Finis watch you from the stars."

Flash Drive bobbed his head and turned tail, preparing to leap through the portal. However, just before he and Doxia were about to do so… they were stopped by Mattimeo.

"Doxia," the powerful being murmured, "Take a look at this report. It came from HQ a second ago."

Doxia looked at a holographic projections that was wreathed about Mattimeo's outstretched palm. Red lights were flashing all over the screen of light. There was a moment of silence, then Doxia began to laugh mirthlessly. "Is this a joke?" he asked sharply, "Is this even possible?"

"It seems so," replied Mattimeo grimly, "This Element of Harmony Relocation Operation goes on lockdown now. I will contact the A.E.S. Immaculate. The ship is orbiting the Dragon Ball Z dimension as we speak. It will hold these five here until this is sorted out."

"What do you mean by 'hold these five here'?" interrupted Flash disbelievingly, "Doxia, I thought we had a deal!"

"And we still have a deal, kiddo, it is just the parameters surrounding the deal have been altered slightly," said Doxia apologetically.

"What?" said Flaming Star, "What is happening?"

"Our HQ, in the Amethyst dimension, just sent us word that it is under attack from an unknown source," replied Mattimeo, "We must move now. You five stay here."

"Amethyst is under attack?" repeated Flaming Star, almost in shock, "That is simply impossible. Nothing can attack there."

"We thought so too," said Doxia, who was now very, very serious, "But I guess we were wrong. We will be back in a moment."

With that, Doxia closed the portal to the Truly Alive dimension and opened another to the Amethyst dimension. Then he proceeded to leap through it, with Mattimeo in hot pursuit. The portal slammed shut, and a shocked silence descended on the courtyard.

"Welll…?" said Flaming Star loudly, breaking the silence, "Now what?"

Then it came. A loud, sepulchral, noise that reverberated across the whole of Equestria. It sounded like a massive underwater explosion, with a crackling undertone. It was incredibly loud, and the earth shook violently. The noise sounded once… then twice… each time getting louder, with equivalently violent earth tremors to accompany the sounds. Then hell broke loose.

Massive crackling holes in reality blossomed forth across the land, sea, and sky everywhere in huge releases of light, sound, and heat. Superheated bolts of power lanced about in a hailstorm of energy, scorching the earth and blasting apart buildings and trees. It seemed like the plane of existence itself was being ripped to pieces by some unknown force.

"What the hell is happening?" screamed Langley, who had his hands clamped firmly over the ears of his writhing wife, Eclipse, who had incredibly sensitive ears.

Flaming Star opened up his traveler database, a multi-tool scanning device that was indispensable to multidimensional explorers. Using the scanning mechanism, he took a quick reading of the universe they were standing in. When he saw the report pop up via a holographic projection, his jaw hit the floor.

"My God…" he whispered.

"What? WHAT?!" yelled Flash Drive, "Is it bad?!"

"According to this, we are no longer standing in Equestria… we are standing in thousands," replied Flaming Star, his voice shaking.

"What does that even MEAN?!" roared Langley over the cacophony.

"It means we are, as of now, standing in a multiverse sandwich!" yelled Flaming Star, "Every single imaginable My Little Pony dimension to ever exist in the multiverse has been smashed into a single plane of reality… THIS ONE!"

"So what you mean is… my home is here as well?" breathed Flash Drive. He suddenly whirled as if preparing to jump through one of the distorting rips in reality that were blossoming about them. However, he was soon roughly grabbed by Langley.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?" yelled Langley, "Doxia told us to stick together!"

"If what Flaming Star told us is true," screamed Flash Drive over the din, "Then what is happening here is happening everywhere else, including my home! I need to get back to Derpy! I need to tell her that I am okay! And that I love her! I need to-"

That is far as Flash Drive got. Suddenly, from out of one of the horribly twisted tears in reality, a multicolored beam of lightning shot out and struck the stallion in the back. With a blast of light, Flash was gone.

Twilight screamed, and Flaming Star gently dragged her to the ground, where he stood over her, protecting her from the storm of power raging throughout the universe. However, his stance of bravery turned out to be simply futile, for in less than a second another lance of power shot out from yet another rip in reality, vaporizing him as well. In less than a second a third lightning bolt shot out, snatching Eclipse from Langley's weathered hands, reducing her to nothing as well. Then… The storm stopped. Literally. The moment Eclipse vanished, the rips snapped shut as if sewn together, the ground stopped shaking violently, and the horribly loud sounds dissolved into silence.

Twilight burst out sobbing as the dust settled and the shards of masonry from the surrounding wall tops stopped falling from the sky.

Langley slowly stood up. Then he started to shout. "Eclipse? ECLIPSE?! HELLO?! PLEASE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

* * *

**Author's Notes. If you wish to add your OC, he/she must meet at least one of the two following criteria: 1) The My Little Pony fan fiction story that your OC is originally from must have more than 10 favorites, 10 follows, and 40 reviews. 2) The story that your OC is originally from must be excellently formatted, written, and styled. Since the latter element of the two criteria is rather vague, truly anyone who thinks they have a chance most probably has one. Anyway, if your OC meets one of the two, then please submit it! We would be happy to add more original characters to the teams!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter's Cast:

Flaming Star ~ A Mending Soul by Torrenta

Ranger ~ Guardians of Equestria by PCgamer238

Regina ~ Kingdom of Everfree by HeartlessSpartan

* * *

Flaming Star groaned. He then sat up slowly. As his blurry vision became clear, he straightened his back and got to all fours. However, in a moment he wobbled and almost fell over, so he slowly sat down again.

Looking about, he groaned again. He looked to be in a quiet clearing, with tall trees bordering the field, and off in the distance was Canterlot castle framed against the tall, cold mountaintops. A gentle stream cut through the clearing, and dribbled by his forehooves gently. Birds twittered in the air, and insects buzzed lazily. Heat rose in a shimmering plane above the grass.

"Where… am… I…?" Flaming Star muttered as he rubbed his head. Getting to all fours once more, he swayed in place before shaking his head as if to clear it. With that, he attempted to activate his traveler database. However, when he drew up a holographic projection, the screen of light was blank. Then it suddenly shimmered, distorted, and then shut off. Flaming Star then attempted to open a portal to the Adventures in Odyssey dimension. However, nothing happened. He mentally pushed once, then twice. Not even the slightest flicker from a portal came forth.

Flaming Star's eyes widened in shock. Then he muttered, "It doesn't work? How is that possible?"

Slowly he looked about again, and his eyes fell on the castle of Canterlot, standing tall in the distance.

"Canterlot looks fine… I hope Twilight stayed put," said Flaming Star to himself. He then began to trot out of the clearing and into the forest. As the trees closed about him, Flaming Star began to think back to what had just happened.

"So, multiple realities of the My Little Pony dimension are smashed forcefully into a singular universe. The chances of that happening are about a googol to one… statistically impossible. That means…"

Flaming Star stopped in mid-trot. "That means… someone did it on purpose…"

Before he could finish the thought, a twig snapped. Flaming Star suddenly stiffened. Activating his bio-signature-scanning vision, he began to sweep his surroundings. There were a couple of squirrels leaping from tree to tree, and several more rabbits quietly foraged amongst low-lying foliage. These critters were too light to cause the sound of a twig such as the one he heard snapping.

Flaming Star kicked his bio-scanner vision into high gear and he squinted through the trees. Then he saw it: a pony was slowly making its way through the forest as well to his right.

Flaming Star quickly cast a photon-reflecting bubble about him. Now invisible to the naked eye, Flaming Star began to approach the pony warily.

The pony had a yellow coat, purple eyes, and brown mane. Flaming Star's eyes narrowed. He had never seen this pony before in any of the Equestria databases back home. This was a piece of proof that he was certainly not in his home dimension.

Flaming Star tensed again. If he indeed was in an unknown My Little Pony dimension, then he needed to be cautious. There was no way he could know if the inhabitance of this MLP universe were violent or dangerous.

Then Flaming Star had an epiphany. If he could come in contact with this pony momentarily, he could read this pony's mind. In seconds he would be able to determine any true threats in this dimension based of whatever memories were stored in this denizen's mind. He crept closer, and closer, until he could almost touch the pony's right shoulder.

Then, suddenly…

"I can't see you, but I can sure as hell hear you."

The pony suddenly flung out a hoof to the right. Flaming Star ducked it, but it did not matter, his cover was blown. However, so desperate was he to find out what had happened to him that he decided to drop the act.

Dissolving the invisibility field, Flaming Star stepped out in plain view.

The pony whirled, and took up a fighting stance. "What the hell…?"

Flaming Star backed down, showing that he meant no harm.

The pony looked Flaming Star up and down with interest. Then he said, "Is this Equestria?"

Flaming Star blinked. "Well, I think it is. Are you a traveler from somewhere else?"

The pony scratched the back of his head. Then he said, "I have absolutely no idea."

Flaming Star had another epiphany. "Ah. Tell me… do you feel like – I don't know – that you are 'out of place?' That this is not the Equestria that you call home?"

The pony nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah! Exactly! How do you know?"

"I feel the same way… as if I am out of place. It's rather weird."

The pony actually started to chuckle softly. "So we are both fish out of the pond then."

Flaming Star nodded. "It seems so. I am Flaming Star, who are you?"

"Just called me Ranger," the pony said. He then held out a hoof. Flaming Star shook it firmly.

"Okay, now that I know that you aren't from around here either, I can go ahead and tell you my theory. You see, only a couple hours ago or so, every single alternate My Little Pony dimension was smashed together into a single plane of reality. As the fabric of the dimensions stretched – being stuffed full of alternate dimensions, you know – holes started to appear. I was pulled through and ended up here, I am assuming you did too, thus-"

"Wait a second!" interrupted Ranger sharply, "Dimensions? What? Who? My Little Pony?"

Flaming Star blinked. "You… you have no idea what I am talking about, do you?"

Ranger shook his head. "No."

Flaming Star sighed. "That's okay. Either way, it does not matter. What we need to do now is find a place to hold up. I have no idea how long we are going to be here in this alien Equestria."

Ranger shook his head again. "No… I need to get back to Canterlot. I have a wife… I have friends. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash…"

"You are friends with alternate versions of the Harmony Bearers then? Hmmmm… The Elements of Harmony seem to be apparent there as well then…" murmured Flaming Star, then he started as a realization hit him. He whirled about to see if he could see the saddlebag that he had that contained the two Elements of Harmony that Doxia had given him. It, and the elements, were gone. Two extraordinarily powerful relics had simply vanished into thin air.

"Damn," growled Flaming Star, "This is not good. Could things get any worse?"

"Okay you two ponies, don't you dare move." A gruff, female voice rang out.

Ranger went into a battle crouch again, and Flaming Star began to sweep the area with his vision. As he did so, he muttered, "Well, I guess it could always get a little worse."

However, in a moment he detected the source of the voice. It was a Griffon, perched in the branches of a cluster of trees to their left. She had her claws extended and her wings spread. Despite this, Flaming Star decided to try and reason with this being as opposed to fighting it, which could prove disasterous.

"You know," said Flaming Star out loud, trying to stay calm, "by calling out from the trees, you actually handed away the element of surprise. You are a Griffon, and you are standing off to our left."

There was a pause, then the Griffon stepped out from behind the thick cluster of trees. She held up her claws. "Okay, how did you know?"

Flaming Star grimaced. "I'm… Uh… I am a little different. It doesn't matter, what was most special about me is gone now."

The Griffon rolled her eyes impatiently and put down her claws. "I don't care. You said that you two were in place different than where you should be. That… that is what is happening to me too."

Flaming Star groaned softly. "This is very bad. Who knows how many other ponies were trapped in places they don't belong thanks to that interdimensional convergence?"

"What are you talking about?" asked the Griffon sharply, "Look, as I said, I'm not supposed to be here! But you… You seemed to know what was going on… What the HELL is happening?!"

Flaming Star took a step back. He held up his forehooves to show that he meant no harm. "Hey, hey, calm down. I have no idea what is going either. I am just as lost as you. Just calm down. Er… tell me, what is your name?"

Despite the fact that the Griffon clearly was disturbed by what was going on, she made an effort to get a hold of her emotions. Her feathers were ruffled and she actually looked rather scared; however, Flaming Star's talking seemed to calm her a bit.

"I… I'm Regina," said the Griffon. There was a pause. Suddenly she exclaimed, "I shouldn't even be talking to you two. I need to get back to Basil, Orion, Starswirl, and Sombra!"

The name "Sombra" revitalized whatever suspicion and hostilities had been dying.

Ranger returned to the fighting crouch. "Sombra," he hissed, "You work with him?!"

Feeling threatened again, Regina put up her claws, snapping her beak dangerously. "Hey, I don't like him – I don't like many of them – but if you have a problem with the ponies I talk to, then you have another thing coming."

"Everyone just wait a second!" shouted Flaming Star, "Haven't I already told you about the alternate dimensions thingies? Regina might just be from a dimension where Sombra was a good guy."

Regina rolled her eyes derisively, "The term 'good guy' is really loose from where I come from. And no, something is up with Sombra, I will admit it… But…"

Flaming Star sighed. "Okay. It is of no importance as of yet. Right now, let's just try to not kill each other."

Regina glanced at Flaming Star, almost innocently. "Why not?"

"Because," replied Flaming Star slowly, facehoofing, "we three have something in common: we are misfits. We don't belong here, and we all want to get home. So why don't we decide to haphazardly designate each other as allies and hold off murdering people – specifically ourselves – until we all get home."

Both Ranger and Regina took steps back and nodded in agreement, and Flaming Star sighed with relief.

"Okay, I know we are all confused, but I think the first thing we need to do now is go to Canterlot and check it out. Who knows? We might be in one of your dimensions."

Regina shook her head. "Canterlot? What is that?"

"You've never heard of Canterlot? I suppose that is irrelevant now," said Flaming Star briskly, "But we might as well be on our way nonetheless."

Ranger nodded. He turned straight about and trotted off. Flaming Star beckoned to Regina, who was still eyeing the two with an air of mild suspicion, and then followed Ranger. Regina gave her Griffon feathers a quick preening before following as well.

As Flaming Star trotted, his thoughts churned like a sea in a hurricane. He was trapped in an unknown dimension with no ability to open a portal or scan the universe. Additionally he had lost the two Elements of Harmony assigned to him. Each jewel of magic possessed incredible powers, and if these haphazardly misplaced elements found their way into the wrong hooves… then many bad things could happen. Just as he managed to calm his thoughts, he, Ranger, and Regina trotted out of the small forest onto a main road that led straight up to Canterlot.

Flaming Star trotted to the very center and turned to fully face Canterlot, which stood tall and grand in the distance. He then proceeded to activate his telescopic vision. He zoomed in on castle in the center of the city. The moment he did so he noticed that there were several things missing from the castle that had been obviously visible in his home dimension.

"Hey, Ranger?" said Flaming Star out loud, "Do you know of a being named Princess Luna? Did you have a Princess of the Night in your dimension?"

Ranger nodded his head briskly. "Yep. We had Luna. Why the buck are you asking me that?"

"Well, there is no Tower of Luna, and there is an awful lot of gold and red everywhere. It looks like Luna never existed, or something of the sorts," replied Flaming Star, "This makes no sense."

"We could ask the guards guiding that armored carriage coming up behind us about it," commented Regina all of a sudden, "Or we could just kill them. I am absolutely fine with either."

Ranger and Flaming Star turned to look in the direction Regina was facing. A large, iron wrought carriage was rattling along the road towards them. A few tough looking guards pulled it along, and several more stood on the roof, armed with long, needle-sharp lances. There was a single pony within the thing, and she looked rather despondent. With growing horror, Ranger realized what that "iron carriage" actually was.

"What… the… buck…?" he breathed, "That is a prison carriage!"

"Yeah right," snorted Flaming Star, "Celestia may be firm, but there has been no need for armored prison transports since the fall of Discord!"

"No, no, I think Ranger might be right," said Regina quietly, her wings tensing, "That is certainly for prisoners."

Flaming Star bit his bottom lip. Then he rolled his eyes and said, "I don't think so. I will just ask the guards of what is going on here. This could just be a travelling circus or something of the sort! I will be right back."

Flaming Star trotted up to the carriage amiably. In a second the iron coach stopped and the guards on the roof leapt down and surrounded him. Pointing a lance right at Flaming Star's throat, the captain of the team snapped, "Strange pony! Who are you? Where do you call a home? What are your alliances?"

Flaming Star opened his mouth and then shut it. He hesitated, and then he opened it again and said, "What?"

The captain was about to say something else, when one of his guards interjected, "He looks nervous. I think he is of the Rebellion!"

With that, Flaming Star truly began to feel nervous, and he started to covertly charge up an energy blast in his forehooves.

As he did so, he said, evenly, "No. I am not of the Rebellion. What are you talking about…?"

"You might be right, soldier," said the captain to the guard, ignoring Flaming Star completely. After pondering for another split second, her turned to Flaming Star again and snarled. "Give me your Solar Citizen Identification. NOW."

Flaming Star blinked. "I have no such thing."

The captain's muzzle broke into a cruel grin. "I thought so."

He turned about and leapt upon the iron carriage's roof once more. As he did so, he curtly said, to his guards, "Soldiers… kill him."

Flaming Star's jaw dropped in shock. However just as the guards reared back to drive the lances into his skull, he slammed his forehooves down, releasing the energy charges into the earth. The ground in a ten meter radius cracked, trembled, and buckled upwards, sending the guards stumbling backwards.

Flaming Star then whirled and electrocuted the nearest guard to death with a lightning bolt.

A dozen or so meters away stood Ranger and Regina, watching the chaos unfolding in front of them.

"We need to help him!" exclaimed Ranger, preparing to gallop off.

Regina shrugged. "Why?"

Ranger simply shook his head and dashed off. He leapt in mid-gallop, landing on top of the nearest guard, knocking him out cold and relieving him of his lances. In one fluent motion he snatched up the dropped lance and rammed it into the throat of one other guard that was preparing to accost him. At this point Regina decided to help her new "friends." She sighed in resignation and leapt into the fray. Using her sharp claws and deadly beak, she began to maim the guards that rushed to kill her.

Though the guards were strong, brutal, well armored, and powerfully armed, they were no match for the combined might of Flaming Star, Regina, and Ranger. In about two minutes all guards aside from the captain were dead. The captain now stood alone. He perched at the ready on the top of the armored carriage, with a lance held high.

Flaming Star glared at the captain, ready to strike.

"Come down here captain," he growled, "You have nowhere to run. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Regina shrugged. "I don't think we should give him a chance. I say we kill him now."

Flaming Star shook his head quickly. "I do not think we should kill him JUST yet. We need to know what in the name of Equestria is going on."

Regina bobbed her head, denoting that she would hold off killing the despotic captain for a little longer.

"Get the buck down here," snapped Ranger, loudly, "We want answers, and we want them now."

The captain looked at them for a moment. Then he hurled his lance at Flaming Star's face, screaming, "LONG LIVE THE SOLAR EMPIRE!"

Flaming Star blasted the lance to dust with a bold of dark matter. A moment later Regina was on top of the captain, tearing out his throat. Ranger just winced at the speed of the captain's death.

"Well," Ranger said a moment later, "The captain obviously made his choice clear. However, now we have a bunch of dead thugs and just as many unanswered questions."

"We do have a bit to go off on, though, Ranger," said Regina, hopping down from the transportable prison of iron, "The captain screamed something about a 'Solar Empire.' Do any of you have such an empire in your… er… dimensions?"

Flaming Star's stomach turned into a ball of ice as a realization hit him. He had heard of that name before. "No…" he stammered, "But… But I know of the alternate My Little Pony dimension that has one, and it is not pretty."

Regina blinked. "You don't look to happy," she commented, "I take it this is not your home then."

Flaming Star shook his head. "No. This is no one's home. This is the land of the Solar Empire."

"Yeah, you keep saying that," interjected Ranger, "What the buck is it?"

"It is an alternate dimension in which Celestia went mad after banishing Luna to the moon. She then took over the whole planet and proceeded to cast it under a terribly harsh dictatorship. This is a land of despair, despotism, and death. We will never be welcome here."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," said Regina, "But I take it that this whole place, in general, is bad."

"Hell yeah it's bad," breathed Ranger, "I can't imagine what terrible things go on here. Flaming Star, how do you know of this place?"

"I was a multidimensional explorer before I settled down in the My Little Pony dimension," replied Flaming Star, "This place was one of the most dangerous universes I have ever visited."

As Flaming Star's voice faded into the blank sky, a lull fell over the conversation as the trio contemplated the possible horrors that awaited them. The lull was finally broken by Ranger.

"Well? What do we do now?" he asked.

"I say, from all this talk about 'despair, despotism, and death,' we walk in the OPPOSITE direction of that Canterlot Castle place," replied Regina curtly, "We can take this iron carriage and get out of here…"

"The carriage!" exclaimed Flaming Star suddenly, "I totally forgot!"

He rushed to the back of the giant moveable prison. A massive padlock shut the thing tight. However, the mass of steel was no match for a concentrated bolt of fire. It melted the whole thing into slag. After freezing the slag into ice with a sub-zero blast and then shattering the thing to shards, Flaming Star stepped back and flung open the doors to release the one pony that had been imprisoned inside. The pony got up slowly, but appeared to be in too much shock to move on her on. However, with a helping hoof from Flaming Star, she eventually stepped into the light, blinking rapidly from the sudden exposure to the bright sun that hung low in the sky.

"Who… who… who are you?" she croaked.

Flaming Star' stomach did a somersault as he recognized the voice. Then he saw the cutie mark. "Oh… my… God… TWILIGHT!"

Ranger's ears perked up at the sound of that name, and he whirled to face the freed pony. "Twilight?!" he exclaimed, "My wife?"

Flaming Star's excitement was practically flash-frozen from that phrase from Ranger. In an instant he turned on Ranger. "Your wife?" he snapped, "Heck, she's MY wife!"

"Why would someone as wonderful as Twilight want to marry a pony like you?" replied Ranger coolly, his eyes now narrowing dangerously.

Flaming Star was about to snap back scathingly, but was interrupted by Regina.

"Um, though I could be wrong," she interjected sharply, "But this is neither of you ponies' homes. Thus, this pony is not married to either of you."

Flaming Star shut up for a moment as he considered Regina's words. Then he chuckled rather sheepishly. "Oh… That's right."

The Twilight pony had shrunk up against the prison when Ranger and Flaming Star had started arguing, but now that the scene had calmed down, she approached Flaming Star and asked, "Y-y-you know me? Do I know you? What's going on? Why did you free me?"

"Because the guards of your prison tried to kill us. You were just a result of us killing all of the hostiles," said Regina simply.

Flaming Star shot the Griffon a warning glance before interjecting, "What my friend means to say is that no pony should be locked in a prison such as yours. It is just not right. Why were you in there, anyway?"

"I dared to oppose the Majestic Queen Celestia, God of the Sun," sighed Twilight. She shook her head mournfully and sat down.

"And you dared oppose this totally obvious despot because…?" prompted Regina.

"I couldn't let her get it!" exclaimed Twilight, "But it was too late! She had it in her possession before I could smuggle it past the Canterlot border!"

Flaming Star gently reached forward with a hoof. He brushed back a strand of her purple mane (consequently getting a rather over-protective glare from Ranger) before saying, "Just calm down for a moment, Twilight. What exactly were you trying to smuggle away from Celestia?"

Twilight got her breathing under control. After taking one more huge, shaking, sigh, she replied. "It was like an Element of Harmony from the old legends! A giant yellow stone that lanced out ribbons of power. It distorted the air around it, and sizzled energy. A dangerous weapon, no doubt. I tried to get it away from Queen Celestia and her mad dreams of destruction… but I failed…"

For the third time today, Flaming Star's stomach turned to ice. The description Twilight had just given perfectly matched the description of the Element of Kindness that Doxia had given to him. According to what Twilight had just told him, it apparently had fallen from his saddlebag straight into the hooves of a mad queen.

"Oh no," groaned Flaming Star. He slowly sat down next to Twilight before facehoofing heartily.

"What do you mean by 'oh no'?" asked Ranger warily.

"I know what this Celestia despot has," replied Flaming Star, "It is one of the most powerful focus points of magic that the multiverse has ever known."

* * *

A colossal, spider-like mass of glossy, tarry, black matter flittered across the blank, dark expanse of multidimensional space. This hideous unknown being of darkness twisted and distorted as it made its way across the deep of the black. As it did so, long tendrils reached out of the mass to gently poke the blank expanse. Several bright flashes, composed of billions of pinpricks of light, exploded forth from the contact points. A moment later, a twisted voice – neither male nor female, neither young nor old – rang out across the deep.

"The chaos has worked well. The elements have been scattered across the expanse, now lying in the possession of the delusional. The chosen ones are scattered as well, but they will make their way back together to retrieve the elements. And once they do that… Phase one will come to a close."

Darkness fell once more over the expanse of nothingness as the flashes of light died away to nothing, but as all light was swallowed by darkness, the same voice deemed to speak one final time.

"A ruler may start of benevolent... but the corrupting nature of sentient beings is always too prevalent. No one can escape the grasp of evil, starting from the huddled masses, spreading upwards like a cancer to the king upon the golden throne."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone! Torrenta here. I would like to start off by saying that I will not type as much in the author's notes as I do in "A Mending Soul." I would also like to say that I will also not always be the one who replies to your questions (either via PM or review). Sometimes I might ask others to answer, depending on the question asked. Anyway, to Rainbow999: Yes. This is all canon for "A Mending Soul." It takes place between Season 1 and Season 2. I may or may not allude to this book in Season 3. Finally, to all you readers, I would like to let you know that some of the chapters for "The Salient Link" will be written by different authors, not just me. This way you will be able to see many different and unique perspectives on this tale!**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Flash Drive ~ Truly Alive by To Define Life

Alex ~ A New Hero by AlexLoneWolf

Ventus ~ Wings of Fate by Nanoman94

* * *

Flash Drive groaned and then gently rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. He then sat up while opening his eyes slowly, revealing his surroundings to him. He did not recognize anything.

It seemed like the place he sat in had once been a lush, beautiful forest, but now it all had been destroyed by a terrible, terrible fire. The trees about him were blackened, burnt, and horribly distorted. Thick mist clung low to the ground, and a dim orange sun leered down at the earth like a massive jack-o-lantern.

"Damn," breathed Flash Drive, "What the hell happened?"

Getting up slowly still, he shook his head and rubbed the back of it again. It did nothing to relieve him of the dull ache that still ricocheted about his skull. Flash Drive was about to start grumbling to himself about the stupidity of jumping through portals in the first place, but was interrupted by a realization that struck him upside the head almost like a physical blow.

Whirling about, he looked frantically around for the saddlebag with the two Elements of Harmony that he had previously held in his possession. They were gone. However, his leg holster, was still there, and so was his handgun. In fact, even his old backpack (which had accompanied his saddlebag) lay in a solitary heap beside him.

Flash Drive narrowed his eyes. The saddlebag had been strapped to him alongside the leg holster, and had been adjacent to his backpack. How had he lost one, and not the other two? It was almost as if somepony had removed them.

"Bucking… magic… or was it science?" muttered Flash Drive, "I ain't going to get killed for some stupid crystals."

However, as he began to look about, it seemed that it really did not matter whether or not he still had an interest in fulfilling his deal with Doxia, for he was obviously not in the same land as Equestria. There were certainly no razed forests there. After a little bit more of scanning his environment, Flash Drive's anger simmered away, though he was still as confused as ever. Nevertheless, he was a zombie apocalypse survivor. If he did not know where he was, he would sure as hell find out. Spreading his wings, Flash Drive took the sky. As he rose above the trees, he sighed in sadness. The whole entire forest – which stretched on indefinitely – was completely burned to a crisp. The horizon was blood red from the smoke, and thick billows of ash rose to puncture the firmaments in colossal pillars of black. Mist drifted like a murky ocean just above the landscape. As Flash Drive pulled a quick turn, out of the corner of his eye he caught a blurring flash that appeared to be a town. Circling once more to check it out, his initial thought was confirmed: a town. It, like the forest, was gutted by fire. The buildings were distorted, like the trees, twisted at odd angels and listing dangerously to unusual sides.

Flash Drive immediately felt an urge to fly in the opposite direction of the town, but after a moment of indecision, he decided against it.

"I've seen a whole lot worse," snorted Flash Drive, "This isn't going to be a problem."

He began to glide down in the direction of the decimated village, but, once again, something caught the corner of his eye. A massive energy flash. Flash Drive pulled into a spin, flashing around to get a better view of the explosion of light. However, it was gone. Nonetheless, he had a pretty good idea where the explosion had originated from initially.

"I gotta check this out first," murmured Flash Drive to himself, "Doxia had a portal that exploded with light like that."

Folding into his wings, he went into a dive. The ash-filled air whipped through his mane as he screeched toward the location. Snapping his wings open at a last moment, he slowed down drastically just in time to skim the tree tops. Slowly he descended through the razed forest until he hit the forest floor. After coming to a stop, he trotted about swiftly, his eyes scouring his surroundings. Then he saw it: an Earth Pony was lying, in an unconscious heap, at the foot of one of the burnt trees.

Immediately intrigued, Flash Drive galloped in closer. The lone Earth Pony was a sort of navy blue, with a faded, light blue mane. His cutie mark looked to be the silhouette of a wolf, standing proud.

Flash Drive blinked. He had never seen such a cutie mark before. Cutie marks were meant to publically present a pony's special skill. What did a wolf have to do with such things? At that moment, a groan escaped from between the pony's lips. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he sat up. However, after his eyes wildly darted around for a moment, he sighed and closed his eyes again. He then lay back down.

Flash Drive's mouth almost dropped open. Had this pony deliberately chosen not to get up despite the fact that he was in an unknown situation?

"Um… hey…" he said, a little unsure of himself.

"Hello…" groaned the pony as he opened his eyes for a moment to regard the zombie apocalypse survivor before him, "You are…?"

"Oh," said Flash Drive, still a little too shocked by the arrival of the pony to be either suspicious or hostile, "I am Flash Drive. Uh… I may be going out on a limb here, but you just got here, did you not?"

"I guess so," sighed the pony.

At that point, Flash Drive recovered from his initial shock, took up a ready stance, and then lost patience. Rolling his eyes, he then snapped, "Then why the buck are you lying there? Look, we are both in a land that is not familiar, so I suggest we stop at nothing till we find what the hell is going on. If you want to just lie here, then fine, but I am not going to stop until I find out a way to get out of here."

The pony sighed once more. He slowly got to all fours and then rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry… My head hurts," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Then he said, a little louder, "You are right, I suppose. We should really find out what is going on here."

Flash Drive nodded. "Finally you get the idea. Look, I told you my name, I am not going any farther until I know what to call you by."

"I… I am Alex," replied the pony, "Sorry if I seemed a little 'uninterested' previously, but I was very disoriented. Ugh…"

Flash Drive nodded his head once more. "Okay, Alex. Tell me, did you get here by a giant explosion of light or something? What I mean is, do you have the feeling that you do not belong here, or anywhere else on this planet… at all?"

Alex thought about what Flash Drive had said for a moment, then he looked about. About a minute later, he finally said, "You know what? I do believe you are right. Before I landed here – Celestia knows where – I was simply going for a stroll in Ponyville with Spike to see Rarity. Spike had found this strange new book in the Castle of the Two Sisters, and he wanted to show it to her. Anyway, while I was doing that… massive holes in space with red hot borders exploded out of nowhere. The earth was shaking and the air was filled with incredibly loud noises. Naturally Spike and I attempted to dive for cover, but before I could join him inside the pavilion, a multicolored lightning bolt shot from one of those holes from nowhere. It hit me… and I ended up here. I have absolutely no idea what happened."

Flash Drive nodded his head almost knowingly. The same had happened to him.

"Something similar to what you described happened to me as well," he said, "However, before I ended up here, a pony – I think his name was Flaming Star or something – said that every possible alternate dimension for us ponies was smashed together into a single universe. From the looks of it, the moment we were all pulled through, everything was 'un-smashed' and returned to normal… but with us stuck on the other side. I know I am no rocket scientist, but I think I have enough knowledge about our surroundings now to say that we sure as hell ain't in Equestria."

To Flash Drive's surprise, Alex shook his head slowly. "I am actually unsure about that. I don't know. This places actually seems rather… familiar."

Flash Drive blinked. He felt like arguing for a moment, but then decided to not make anything worse. For the majority of his life he had been a loner, fighting against zombies by himself, but when he met Derpy and the Mane 6, he had truly come to realize the gift of having actual friends. Even though this Alex character did seem a bit reluctant and confusing, an ally was better than nothing in the current situation.

"Very well," he said, "Now I saw a town – or, to be exact, what was LEFT of a town – so I say we head off in its direction again. Perhaps we could get our bearing there, or at least be able to scavenge for supplies."

Alex nodded. "Very well. It seems that you have been in such situations before, if I may say."

Flash Drive shrugged. "Not really. But I am a survivor, so I know the right steps. Come on, it was this way."

Flash Drive turned tail and prepared to trot off in the direction he had seen the town, but before he could begin, something gave him pause. Ash and dust about a tree behind him had suddenly rose into the air and drifted to the left; however, there was no wind. Somepony's hooves had kicked up said dust and ash. Flash Drive tensed for a fight, but then decided against that course of action. If there was somepony watching him, it was best to let them think they had the element of surprise, allowing him and Alex to turn it against them in the event that that pony turned out to be a hostile.

Flash Drive beckoned for Alex to draw nearer. Eyeing Flash Drive suspiciously, Alex did so.

"There is a pony behind us, watching," murmured Flash Drive, "However, I do not think he has seen us. Let him keep thinking that. If he is stupid enough to attack later, then we can bucking rain hell on his sorry ass."

Alex blinked in acknowledgment, his eyes not even straying to look in the direction Flash Drive had indicated.

Flash Drive then trotted away towards the town, Alex close behind him. As they trotted, Flash Drive tried to recall what Doxia and Flaming Star had told him about the whole multiverse idea.

"According to some 'friends' of mine, there are many, many different dimensions for ponies. They call them 'My Little Pony universes.'"

Alex almost snorted derisively. "What do you mean 'My Little Pony'? Is that what they are actually called? If you don't mind me saying, but that is absolutely stupid."

"I couldn't agree more, but it looks like that is the actual name for our home dimensions," continued Flash Drive, "Anyway, there are many different My Little Pony dimensions, some similar, some different. I take it from what you told me, everypony is happy, right?"

Alex simply nodded.

Flash Drive nodded back. Then he continued. "Right. Well, in 'my' My Little Pony dimension, undead beings have ravaged the land. Ponies die every day, and the entire world has been tossed into chaos. Anyway, there are many types of My Little Pony dimensions like ours, separate and isolated. However, just a few hours ago… that all changed. As I said before, every single alternate My Little Pony dimension was forced together into a kind of mix, causing hole between the dimensions to blatantly open up. With that came the danger of being pulled through one dimension into another alternate dimension. That is what I believe happened to us. Thus, we can only assume we are in neither of our home dimensions."

Alex simply nodded his head again. Though it did not seem like he was really listening, he was drinking it all in, and making a couple accurate conclusions of his own.

"That makes sense," said Alex, "Now what do we do?"

"We find a haven where we can prepare for the worst," replied Flash Drive. At the sound of the word "worst" escaping his lips, Flash Drive's mind wandered back to the rather grim predicaments that he had left his friends in. If he could only get those Elements of Harmony, then he could get his hooves on that fabled research from Doxia, and all the hardships that he and his friends had gone through would not be for naught: they would be safe.

Sighing quietly, Flash Drive decided that since he was here, it would not hurt for him to at least look for his two Elements of Harmony.

"A bit for your thoughts," said Alex suddenly. His eyes were still darting about keenly, and it looked like he was scouring the trees about him, but it also seemed that he was rather interested in what Flash Drive had to say for himself.

Flash Drive started. "Oh… I just realized there might be one other things we, or names 'I,' will have to do after we figure out where the buck we are," he replied.

"That being…?" prompted Alex.

"I need to find two Elements of Harmony," said Flash Drive.

This caused Alex's eyes to dart to the side to look at Flash Drive. His pupils lingered on him for a split second before returning to scanning the surroundings. "The Elements of Harmony?"

"Two of them," continued Flash Drive, "They are not the same elements as we had in either of our dimensions though. These elements outshine all the other alternate dimension's Elements of Harmony put together. Mattimeo, a 'friend' of mine, said that a single element held enough power to destroy or significantly alter a whole planet with ease."

At that moment, a noise sounded sharply behind them. Their mysterious follower, who had been stealthily trailing them so far, had stumbled, presumably because of the information they had so obviously heard. At this time, Flash Drive decided to simply blow the stalker's cover. It was best to find straight out if they were friend or foe, instead of simply waiting to eventually turn the tide.

Flash Drive nodded to Alex briskly before turning about to face the source of the sound. Then he called out, "Okay, stranger. We know you have been following us for quite some time now. So why don't you cut out the games and tell us what the hell you are doing?"

There was at least a minute's worth of silence. Then a Pegasus with a dark green coat, lime-ish eyes, and a light green mane stepped out from behind a fire-gutted tree.

He looked at the duo before him before saying slowly, "Hello."

"You've been stalking us for who knows how long, and all you have to say for yourself is 'hello'?" asked Flash Drive incredulously, "Wrong answer Pegasus." He began to slowly reach back for the handgun nestled in his leg holster.

The green Pegasus shook his head quickly. "Wait a moment. Look, I was only following you because I could not tell you if you meant any harm."

Alex regarded the Pegasus. "Do we seriously look like we could be a danger to you?"

The Pegasus shrugged. "I could say no, but I have some experience with 'innocent' ponies that could prove me otherwise."

"I don't know what problems you have had in the past, pony, but they do not extended into this current moment," snapped Flash Drive, still irritated, "Are you from around here?"

"Absolutely not," said the Pegasus emphatically, "I have not the slightest idea where I am. In fact, that was mostly why I was trialing you. It seems you have some interesting ideas, Flash Drive."

At the sound of this stranger calling him by name, Flash Drive bristled. However, after a moment of silence, he calmed down and said slowly, "Okay. You know my name. What is yours."

The Pegasus actually looked like a deer in the headlights for a spilt-second. Then he said, carefully, "My… my name is Highwind."

Flash Drive was a survivor, this meant he needed to know how to deal with other beings as well as zombies to the point of perfection. Thus, his brain triggered an alarm the moment the Pegasus spoke: he was lying.

Flash Drive decided that he did not want to waste any time beating around the bush and losing daylight. Thus he immediately said, "Right. Okay. So what is your real name?"

The Pegasus actually paused for a moment. Then he said quietly, "Does it matter what I call myself?"

"Alex and I are trying to survive here," replied Flash Drive sternly, "And part of surviving with others is trust. If you cannot even trust me with your true name, than what else is there that you are hiding?"

The Pegasus sighed deep and long before saying, "If it is true that this is not my home, and you are all from alternate dimensions… I suppose it is not even worth the effort. Ventus, former third pupil to Princess Celestia."

Alex cocked his head to one side. "Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer… and then you? What?"

Ventus said nothing more. In fact, it looked like he had almost said more than he had intended to. Flash Drive decided that there was still plenty more secrets locked securely away in this Pegasus, but he also decided it was not worth the trouble. This pony was lost as well, and that meant they had something in common. And since they had something in common, they might as well put their mutual interests to work and become a haphazard team. It was dangerous, but it could prove worth it.

Flash Drive nodded his head briskly to Ventus (his version of "welcome to the team, kid") and then turned tail to trot off again. Ventus fell in line and the trio began to work their way through the decimated forest. As they drew near the tree line, Ventus said, "What do you think happened here?"

"I could think of several things," muttered Flash Drive darkly.

"This could be an alternate dimension where Sombra took over, or something of the sort," ventured Alex before returning to silently scanning the landscape.

"Possibly. However, I have a feeling that we will find out more when we reach the town," said Flash Drive.

"I saw that earlier," commented Ventus quietly, "It looked like Ponyville."

"I doubt that," countered Flash Drive curtly.

Alex, however, could not help but agree with Ventus. "This land has an eerie familiarity about it, actually."

At that moment, the trio finally trotted out of the razed forest. Flash Drive straightened up as he peered keenly at the decimated town in the distance. "It is still a little too far for me to see properly though all this air-borne ash," commented Flash Drive warily, "I think we better get in close. Follow me."

However, before he could even take two steps, Ventus suddenly exclaimed, "I think you two might want to take a look at this."

Alex and Flash Drive turned about to see Ventus, his eyes actually widened in surprise, looking at a rundown sign a couple meters away from where they stood by the forest border.

The sign read: The Everfree Forest.

And a score or so meters behind the sign was a blackened ruin that looked exactly like Fluttershy's cottage.

Flash Drive sighed in resignation. This proved Alex's theories once and for all. They had been in the Everfree forest, they had passed Fluttershy's cottage, and they were trotting towards Ponyville. And all of it… had been destroyed by fire and brimstone.

* * *

The dark entity that dwelled over the deep suddenly twitched as more events unfolded in the vast multiverse. Several images, representing events unfolding in the countless dimensions, flashed across the black, rippling expanse as the entity brushed the surface with claw-like tendrils of darkness.

"More steps have been taken," murmured the thing of darkness, "All according to the foreseen. The flayed and decaying streams of time have been altered well. The process has started."

Once again darkness descended in full over the ocean of nothingness. But just as all vision was dashed to nothing, the entity of darkness spoke once more.

"One may question why evil exists in the very fabric of reality. Why does it dwell on every imaginable level? The answer is simple: it exists because sentient beings have free will; their very minds concoct their downfall. So contemplate the horrors that await if the mind was a land of its own."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone. Torrenta here. I am happy to see that this story has taken off with such alacrity. Keep those reviews coming! The more reviews there are, the more encouragement is distributed! Anyway... To Russet Burbank: Ashes? Jack-o-lantern sun? Does this not sound familiar? I will give you a hint... It seems like Flash Drive and his team are looking through a glass darkly in this land. I am pretty sure some of you know where these unfortunate ponies have landed. To madmanwithafork: Oh, yeah! Fallout Equestria! I forgot about that story. You know, that might actually be an interesting dimension for someone to visit eventually. Now... onto the story!**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Eclipse ~ Orbit by The Federation Justice

Greg ~ Human in Equestria: A Voice Within by HUNGRYBURGER25

Mike ~ A New Beginning by Kiliani

* * *

Eclipse's eyes snapped open. Leaping to her feet, her narrow eyes raked the surrounding area, attempting to locate the enemies that had ripped her from Langley's embrace. She was lying in a forest that looked somewhat familiar. It was the Everfree Forest. She way lying in a grassy clearing, with tall dark trees surrounding her. For the most part, it looked like her forest on her planet Equi-3. However there was one large difference that separated this Everfree look-alike and the forest she knew: the sky was completely dark, and the moon was hanging high in the sky. Of course Eclipse's initial thought about this was that the land was simply enveloped in Luna's night, which it would be until Celestia's sun returned to the sky in the morning, but something felt really wrong about the whole thing… She just could not put her hoof on it.

"Langley? Langley?!" screamed Eclipse before she shut her jaw tightly, realizing her shouts could attract unwanted attention. After her panic had bubbled about in her stomach for a bit, it soured and turned into anger.

"When I find the ones who did this, no barren rock will be able to hide them from my wrath. I will tear apart their bodies and sprinkle their blood across the vast planes," she snarled.

However, no amount of cursing, threatening, or growling would do anything for her now. She was alone, and whatever had happened before had happened perfectly and ended perfectly, and those responsible had most probably escaped successfully.

After taking a couple deep breaths to chill her broiling wrath, Eclipse sighed and said, to herself, "I need to figure out what happened. Did not that one foolish yellow Stallion I met earlier say something about portals or something related to that? Flaming Star, I think his name was… Yes… It was portals to many dimensions. He said… he said when the many multiple realities were smashed together, rips opened up between the realms. I must have been pulled through one!"

Eclipse snorted out air lightly and tossed her dazzling mane, feeling quite proud of herself. No one was going to keep Eclipse, the great Nightmare Moon, in the dark.

After a momentary pause, Eclipse muttered, "I need to find Canterlot or Ponyville. If I find either of them, perhaps I will be able to tell if I was indeed pulled into a strange reality. If so, I will then proceed to discover what changes that have been made, and if they are dangerous or unwelcoming…"

Eclipse's threatening mutterings trailed off into nothing. Then she went into a rather bitter mood swing. Her emotions changed again from being irate to rather depressed. Sobbing lightly, Eclipse lay down. What was the use? Even if she found Ponyville, Canterlot, or anything remotely familiar, it would not matter. For, if she had truly been pulled into another dimension through a hole in the planes of reality, then she would never be able to find her way back. Tears began to roll down Eclipse's cheeks, and she continued to sob for a bit longer. However, as she continued to have a good cry, her tear-stained eyes caught something lying under a couple of bushes just off to her left. It was a bag. Her mind distracted from mourning for a moment, Eclipse got to all fours and trotted up to the bush. She pulled out the bag with her teeth gently and then inspected the thing. Her stomach did a flip when she recognized the shape and texture. This was her husband's bag. Quickly she nosed open the flap to ensure that its precious cargo (the inexorably powerful Elements of Harmony that Doxia had given to them) were still there. Once again, her stomach did a flip. The two elements that had been trusted to Langley were gone, vanished, and lost.

In an instant Eclipse's mind filled with resolve. Langley had always gone out of his way to protect her, help her, and keep her happy. She had never been able to truly return the favor… until now. She would ensure that the elements would never fall into the wrong hooves (or hands) just as Doxia had instructed her husband. And who knows? Perhaps when she found the two Elements of Harmony, she could use them to get home. With a new mission in mind, her sadness faded slightly, though her eyes still ached, and there was a dull throb of pain in her heart. Nonetheless, neither of these things did much to stop the powerful Nightmare Moon. Spreading her wings, Eclipse took to the sky. Circling once, then twice, the mare scanned the surrounding landscapes with her sharp eyes for many kilometers, and her rather incredibly sensitive ears twitched slightly, listening for sounds. Suddenly Eclispe stiffened slightly in mid-flight. She had seen nothing (the darkness was too great for her to see much), but she had certainly heard something. It was the gentle noise of a couple small twigs snapping.

"Perhaps whoever is moving amongst the trees can tell me of where I am," murmured Eclipse softly, "But if they attack me or are not helpful in any way…"

With that, Eclipse listened of another moment. In a second she heard a couple more twigs snapping, and she pinpointed the source of the sound. Snapping her wings close to her body, Eclipse reeled through the air and began a power-dive towards the source, shooting silently through the night-engulfed sky.

As she drew closer to ground zero, her eyes picked up movement through the darkened air. To her surprise, it looked to be a human. In her time, Eclipse had seen her fair share of humans, but this was most certainly Equestria that she was in, the land of ponies. Was it possible that there were other "alternate realities" in which Equestria had been invaded by humans as well? She was about to find out.

With a soft hiss of wind, Eclipse opened up her wings wide to slow her descent. She glided into the forest below. As the forest floor became clear through the heavily intertwining branches of the Everfree forest, Eclipse could now clearly see the being she had previously heard: It was a human for certain. A male. He was about 1.8 meters tall, with tan-ish skin and short, thick, black hair. His eyes were brown.

The human was gently plodding along through the forest, barely making a sound. So silent was he that even Eclipse's sharp hearing could barely detect the crunch of earth beneath his shoes. For a moment Eclipse hesitated. How should she approach him? Finally she decided on her usual tactics: arrive in style and scare the living daylights out of people.

With a crackle of thunder, Eclipse landed on all fours behind the human. The earth beneath her buckled, and large clods of earth ruptured skyward.

"Greetings human!" she exclaimed, "I am Nightmare-"

Her speech was cut off by a squeak from her as the human whirled about and delivered a massive punch. By some miracle, Eclipse had just enough time to turn into her intangible form. The fist blasted through her and struck a tree. Eclipse's eyes widened slightly as the whole trunk exploded into shards. The human she was facing most certainly had skills. Immediately decided this human was more of a threat now that a potential source of information, Eclipse attacked. Turning back into her corporeal form, she fired a massive bolt of power from her horn. The human ducked swiftly, and it pleased Eclipse to see that he was shocked when her magical attack turned a tree behind him into dust. Quickly the human ran to a tree, and climbed swiftly.

"Foolish human," snapped Eclipse, firing another blast of magic. The tree exploded upward, but the human simply leapt from one tree to another, then another, then another, with each tree turning into shrapnel seconds after. Finally the human kicked off a tree, spun about, and hurled a powerful fist towards her.

Eclipse, however, simply teleported to a safe distance. She quickly followed up with yet another magical attack.

The human dodged it, and as he did, Eclipse heard him mutter, "Stupid… magic… First I find myself in a strange land, then I get attacked by a stupid magical death pony."

Eclipse suddenly stopped. She looked at him curiously.

"Did you just say… strange land?" she breathed.

The tone of her voice gave the human pause too. Thus instead of pressing his advantage of her shock, he simply straightened up and said, "Yes. What do you know of it?"

For a moment Eclipse thought of simply denying the fact of her being lost as well, but then thought better of it.

"Yes. I, like you, am in a very strange land."

The human cocked his head to one side. "Strange. Did you strike a deal with Discord as well?"

Eclipse shook her head. "No. Discord had nothing to do with this."

The human sighed quietly. "That is weird. I was sent to Equestria thanks to Discord, I thought he must have sent me here… Maybe he still did."

"I do not see why it matters now," said Eclipse, losing her patience fast, "You are here. However, you must tell me, were you pulled through by giant glowing-red holes of power? Did the earth rumble and the sky shake?"

The human looked slightly surprised. "It did! What was it?"

Eclipse rolled her eyes. "Well it was most certainly not Discord. A pony I met before I was transported here said something about all the dimensions of my home being smashed together. All Equestria's became one, and when that happened, holes between the realities opened up. I was sucked through."

The human nodded his head. "All the My Little Pony dimensions were smashed together, holes between the alternate realities then opened up… and those close to those holes were pulled through. I think that makes sense."

Eclipse nodded her head regally, glad that the human was catching on. There was a momentary pause.

Finally, the human bowed to her and said, "You can call me Greg."

Eclipse nodded her head one more time. "I am Nightmare Moon. Or, as my friends call me: Eclipse. You are not my friend."

Greg blinked. "Right… Wasn't Nightmare Moon part of Luna?"

For a moment Eclipse considered killing Greg and using his liver for a snack, but then decided to ignore the comment.

There was another awkward pause, one made doubly painful by the fact that both had been trying hard to kill each other not minutes ago. Finally Greg spoke up.

"Something feels wrong about the night."

Eclipse nodded her head. "I am Nightmare Moon. I am the night. But something here seems out of place. Something is truly wrong."

Greg bobbed his head in acknowledgment. He then quickly crouched and cast his vision about, searching the surrounding area. "I am sure we are in Equestria," he said, "I can feel it… and yet I don't really recognize here."

Eclipse lifted her head to look at the sky regally. "This is the Everfree forest, 'Greg,'" she said.

"Okay," Greg replied, "In that case we must find Ponyville, which should be the closest."

"Your idea is tolerable. Let us do so."

However, before either Eclipse or Greg could go a single step, a massive explosion of light erupted off to their left. Whirling, the two took up an aggressive fighting stance. Eclipse could not help but note (with a tad of embarrassment) that they had readied side-by-side, as if they were a team.

"What was that?" murmured Greg, who looked like he really wanted to not see any more bizarre events today.

"We are about to find out," replied Eclipse, who began to canter up to ground zero. Greg rolled his eyes and quickly followed suit. The two trotted for about a score or so of meters before rounding a tree. They found themselves face a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was yet another human. Though the sky was still in the seemingly eternal clutch of night, the two could see smoke from a dimensional portal rising from the thick, dark green grass around him.

"It looks like we weren't the only one who fell victim to that massive dimension mash-up thing," muttered Greg. He strolled up and inspected the being. It was a male human, about 1.7 meters in height. He was a bit scrawny (though he did possess a somewhat visible muscle tone) and he wore glasses, which were askew upon his face.

Suddenly he gasped and sat up. He looked about quickly, his eyes scanning the surroundings for enemies and potential weapons. In a flash his eyes laid on Greg and Eclipse. He stared at them for a moment, then he groaned and rubbed the back of his head.

Greg bobbed his head in his direction.

"Hello," said Greg, "Are you okay?"

"Where am I?" said the human, instead of directly answering the question, "Am I still in Equestria?"

Eclipse cocked her head to one side. Another human in Equestria. Was this some kind of overused trend or dimensional cliché? She supposed it did not truly matter.

"So, you were from Equestria as well?" asked Greg, "That is strange. But seriously, you look pretty knocked-up. Are you okay?"

The human nodded his head. "I take it since you are not trying to kill me right now, you two are friendlies?"

Eclipse snorted a sharp blast of air from her nostrils. She did not really think of herself as a "friendly" in this situation. She preferred to think of it as a "not-killing-those-nearby-instantly" mentality.

Greg shrugged as he helped the other human up. "Well, it seems we are all lost, so I see no danger in all becoming allies. It would help for sure."

The other human swayed on his feet, stumbled, and then leaned against a nearby tree. As he did that, he looked about once more.

"If we are still in Equestria, this is most certainly not the Equestria that I recognize," he replied.

Eclipse nodded her head. "We have all decided that this is most certainly not the Equestria from where we came from."

"What?" asked the human looking at Eclipse, then he suddenly started as his eyes fell on Greg.

"You are a human too!" he breathed, it dawning on for the firsr time as his blurry vision cleared and his mind was cleansed of the haze of confusion.

Greg nodded. "Yes. Tell me… were you pulled from your home by giant glowing portals? Was everything shaking as you were?"

The human nodded. "You're right! Were you teleported here too by that?"

Greg nodded his head again in return. "Yes. Nightmare Moon here told me that all the My Little Pony dimensions – the alternate versions of Equestria – were smashed into a single plane of reality. When that happened, portals between said dimensions opened up, and I, you, and she were pulled through. I guess we all were pulled through into here. This is most certainly not the home that I recognize."

The human looked as if he was processing the new information as he ruefully rubbed the back of his head. Then he looked at Eclipse and asked, "You are Nightmare Moon?"

Eclipse rolled her eyes and braced for the question of why she was not part of Luna, but, fortunately for both the human and her, the question never came. Instead he nodded his head and stepped back from the tree he was leaning against.

"Well," he said after a momentary pause, "My name is Mike Bryant. You two can call me Mike."

Greg shook Mike's hand and nodded to Eclipse, who regally nodded her head in return.

"What do we do now?" asked Mike, who still looked rather disoriented.

"We were thinking of finding Ponyville," replied Greg, "We need to find a recognizable landmark."

"If this is an 'alternate reality' as you say, how do we know there will be a Ponyville to find?" asked Mike a little worriedly.

"We just have to hope," said Greg.

"Indeed, Mike," said Eclipse, "I took to the sky earlier, and I think I saw Ponyville in the distance. Follow me."

With that, Eclipse began to canter off in one direction. Greg glanced at Mike, and the two followed her swiftly.

As they walked, Greg looked to Mike and said, "USA army?"

Mike glanced at Greg in surprise. "PFC. IT Specialist. How did you know? Are you in the army as well?"

Greg shook his head. "No. However, I can usually tell those things about others. You had the feel about you."

Eclipse glanced back at Greg. "You are a human who was brought into the land of Equestria and yet you were not a human soldier? That is odd. Meadolax told me once that the multiverse was rigged so that only human soldiers who were killed could be brought to my land. He must have been jesting. I could never truly tell with him."

"Who is Meadolax?" asked Mike.

Eclipse hesitated, then decided to not continue the conversation. Instead she said, "I am able to see out of the Everfree forest. We are almost there."

With that, the trio exited the dark forest. Standing at the treeline, they could see a small town in the distance. It was most certainly Ponyville. However, just like everywhere else, it was enveloped in the same eerie darkness like everywhere else.

"This does not seem right," said Greg, tensing his muscles.

Mike nodded his head. "I agree. It just feels… wrong."

"Follow me," said Eclipse, "I am tired of wondering. We will find out now what has happened to this land."

She trotted off at a purposeful speed. Still in a fighting stance, Greg followed with Mike right behind him.

As they approached the town, all three of them felt their stomachs turn sourer and sourer with a sense of horror. The town was completely intact, but it was absolutely silent. All the houses stood small and lonely in the darkness, and not a single light flickered in a window. All the doors were shut tight, and the wind howled despondently through the abandoned street. There was no signs of life.

However, as they rounded a corner, Greg saw a couple of pony guards strolling down the street before them, their backs turned to them. Immediately Mike nodded to Greg, signaling that he wanted to talk to them, but Greg quickly shook his head in response and motioned for them to duck into an alleyway.

"We are strangers here," said Mike, "I understand it is risky talking to those two guards, but it is less dangerous than breaking into a house to find clues, or simply remaining in the dark."

"Mike is correct about that, Greg," said Eclipse, "Those guards are not match for me. If they attempt to foolishly attack us, I will crush them where they stand like insects. It is that or they will simply tell us what is going on. I am not averse to either outcomes."

This discussion was lost on Greg, though. He was no longer looking. Instead he was looking at a massive tattered banner stretched across the whole of the alleyway. It read:

All hail Nightmare Moon. Supreme Empress of Equestria!

* * *

Though silence had dwelled over the deep for some time now, the lull was broken by soft movements. The entity of darkness was moving once more. Gently, long black tendrils brushed the dark expanse below it, causing ripples to spread outward. Images of events occurring all over the multiverse flashed across the endless ocean of nothingness as the ripples spread. There was a pause…

"They are all readying for the move. The must be lead to the right places though. It will be done."

As the rippled died out and pure darkness and silence fell once more over the face of the deep, a whispered echoed out.

"Power always corrupts. The saying is universal. No one is exempt. But imagine… It is simply one gear in the endless machine that is evil."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone! Torrenta here. I would like to say right now that next week, another author is going to take on writing the chapter. It will be updated here, of course, but the writer is different. The maker of the next chapter will be To Define Life, author of "Truly Alive." He writers fairly well, and it will be interesting how he takes on the task of creating the next chapter. His style and perspective will most certainly be a welcomed addition to "The Salient Link." Now, on to answering some reviews. To Russet Burbanks: What? It isn't deserving of a rimshot? Well, I take it you got the message. They are in for a rough time, as I stated last chapter. To Brony at War: I have looked at your book and am considering it. As of now, all the chapters up to chapter 10 have or are being written as we speak, thus, if one of your OCs did make it in, they would not appear until later. Nonetheless, I am still greatly interested in what you have to offer. I will contact you later. Oh, as for the land that Flaming Star and his team are in... no. That is not a story. It is simply a popularly accepted "what-if" dimension that I decided would be perfect for "The Salient Link." And now... let's go to the story!**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Flaming Star ~ A Mending Soul by Torrenta

Ranger ~ Guardians of Equestria by PCgamer238

Regina ~ Kingdom of Everfree by HeartlessSpartan

* * *

"A single element of Harmony is supposed to be the most powerful focus point for magic?" asked Ranger incredulously, "What do you mean? Aren't they useless without each other?"

"They are supposed to be," replied Flaming Star, "But that is not the case with these. You see, each dimension has its own Elements of Harmony, and its own Tree of Harmony, but the elements that I am talking about come from My Little Pony Prime. That is the central dimension, and thus the focus point of all dimensional magic. And thus, the elements that were released there possess more power than tenfold of your dimension's Elements of Harmony."

"Sorry if I sound skeptical," snorted Regina, "But why the buck are the dimensions called 'My Little Pony'? Are they LITERALLY called that? Who named them? Why are they named that?"

Flaming Star glanced at her in irritation. Then he opened his mouth to reply. However, as he did so, he hesitated, paused, and then closed his mouth. Then he opened it again, and then closed it again. There was a pause, then, finally, he said, "I honestly do not have the slightest idea at all. Why would someone be stupid enough to call a dimension 'My Little Pony'? That is what a seven-year-old would call it. I will have to ask Doxia later."

"Who is Doxia?" asked Ranger.

Flaming Star shrugged. "That is not really important right now. What is important now is that we get Twilight out of here and prepare to storm Canterlot."

Twilight – who was initially cowering in a corner of the prison carriage staring wide-eyed at these strange ponies (and Griffon) arguing about strange things – started at the sound of her name being said. Now back in reality for a moment, she gasped, "You want to do what? You can't storm Canterlot! It is the most guarded place in Equestria!"

Regina, at the sound of a challenge, simply snapped her dangerous beak once, picked up a halberd from a fallen guard and twirled it in the air, saying, "I doubt it. My team and I can break into anywhere."

Simultaneously glad and perturbed by the fact that Regina referred to them as a "team," Flaming Star sighed, "I believe she is right. However, the most important thing is getting you out of here, Twilight."

Ranger nodded readily. "I agree. It is too dangerous for you to be around us. Where can we take you where you will be safe?"

Twilight thought about the question for a moment. Then she said, "Ponyville. Though it, like everywhere else, is under Sun-Goddess Celestia, it has many resistance members that would be willing to hide me. Get me to Ponyville to a pony named Rainbow Dash, and I should be safe."

Flaming Star snorted as he realized that the Rainbow Dash of this dimension was a rebel, but he quickly quelled his amusement and cleared his throat. "Okay," he said, "We have a clear course of action. Let us do as she says and get her to Ponyville."

Regina tossed her halberd to Ranger and picked up a heftier spear. Regina glanced at Flaming Star, but he only gave his head a quick shake. He then held up a hoof, charged up a fireball, and then extinguished it.

"Well, I think we are more than ready," said Regina gruffly, "Let's move."

Ranger took the lead, his eyes scouring the dusty road ahead as they made their way to Ponyville.

"We have at least a day-and-a-half of trekking if this Equestria's landscape is identical to any of the other Equestrias out there" commented Flaming Star as the trotted along.

"I think we should be more worried about delays than the distance this road stretches on," replied Ranger, "delays that involve pointy weapons, specifically."

"I am going to take to the air and scout out the lay of the land," said Regina. She spread her feathered wings and blasted into the air. Twilight squeaked and pressed close to Flaming Star (who subsequently got a jealous glance from Ranger).

Flaming Star pulled a face. "Different dimension, different Twilight, Ranger."

Ranger didn't reply, and the group lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. However, it was finally broken by the return of Regina.

"There is some kind of checkpoint up ahead," the Griffon said after preening her feathers quickly, "Do you want to fight through?"

Flaming Star bit his lip as he thought for a split second, however, it was Ranger who replied.

"No," the pony said decisively, "We fight and word will get to this despot Celestia. If that happens, she will find us and kill us."

"I have to agree with Ranger," seconded Flaming Star, "No matter how powerful I am, and no matter how powerful you two are, an Alicorn Celestia armed with the power of that Element of Harmony is too great to be dealt with in direct combat. I suppose stealth is the best approach."

"I suppose I can relate to that," said Regina, a little disappointed that she didn't get to annihilate anyone, "But how are we going to be stealthy? We are in an open landscape, and the only thing that is keeping the checkpoint from seeing us at this very moment is that rise up ahead. We crest that and they will spot us in an instant."

Flaming Star cocked his head to one side as he weighed more options. As he did this, Ranger and Regina continued to converse as Twilight timidly stood off to one side.

"I still stand by shredding them all. There is only about a dozen of them, and they don't stand a chance either way. Anyway, if you squint your eyes, killing everyone and being stealthy is about the same thing," said Regina.

"If we cause chaos, word will get out. The moment word gets out, Celestia will know and we are doomed," replied Ranger, "We need to be stealthy."

"But how are we going to do that?" snapped Regina, "As I have already said, there landscape is too open!"

"We will find a way," replied Ranger sharply, "There is always a way. I know that, and I will find it."

"I've got it," Flaming Star interjected suddenly, "I know what we should do."

"What?" asked Regina.

Flaming Star slammed a hoof into the ground. Suddenly a gentle breeze swirled about him and everypony else. A thin shimmering line that resembled heat rising from sun-baked earth drew itself in a large circle around the group. In a moment the four were enveloped by a sparkling bubble of power.

"What… the… buck…" was all that Ranger said.

"What is this?" demanded Regina immediately.

"An invisibility shield," said Flaming Star, "It will conceal us from their sight."

"Magic won't work against them," sighed Twilight, speaking for the first time in a while, "All Celestia Guard detachments have a mage who casts magic-distorting fields about key positions. That is how my friend Rarity was caught."

Flaming Star visibly blanched when he heard of the fate of this dimension's Rarity, but he quickly recovered and replied, "That might be true… but this isn't magic. I am bending light using hyper-condensed metamaterial particles that are suspended in space in a thick hexagonal pattern."

"Metamaterials," breathed Twilight reverently, "How did you get them?"

"I conjured them from nothingness," explained Flaming Star, "I utilized a base existential energy called Imagination Energy, which is derived from pure dimensional reality, you see…"

"That's great and all, bookworms," interrupted Regina, "But I think we have more pressing matters to attend to other than that."

Flaming Star started, then he blushed a bit. "Oh yeah. Sorry. Let's move."

The four of them moved off as one, and in a couple minutes they were over the rise in the road and rapidly approaching the checkpoint.

It was a large metal block that was lying blatantly across the road. At both ends there were six guards armed to the teeth, and a Unicorn mage in the center, his horn shining brightly.

Twilight inhaled sharply as they passed through the magic-scrambling field, but nothing happened. Flaming Star didn't even break his stride. With a quick toss of his head, he caused a patch of grass a couple kilometers to their left to spontaneously combust with a massive release of heat, sound, and light. In a moment all the guards (and the mage) rushed to inspect the source of disturbance. In a second, Twilight, Flaming Star, Ranger, and Regina galloped over the road block and were on their way.

"That was amazing," breathed Twilight, "What are you?"

"Overpowered," muttered Ranger.

Flaming Star winced. "Well… yeah. I am what you call a Dimensional Traveler. There a few of us. We travel the dimensions in search of those in need. We are sort of like superheroes… or… at least we were."

"What happened?" pressed Twilight.

Flaming Star sighed. "Long story short, our leader turned out to be a psychopathic, genocidal murder with plans to destroy everything. Ninety-nine of us turned to evil and it the multiverse would have fallen to evil if not for a few choice actions of a few of us. It cost me and them greatly… Anyway… Basically, we are an endangered species now."

Flaming Star seemed a bit dejected after telling this tale of woe, so Ranger could not help but wink at him and say, "You did what was right… though I still think you are overpowered."

Regina shrugged. "You did what you needed to do."

Flaming Star nodded. "I suppose. Let's keep moving."

As dusk began to fall, Regina finally stopped and slammed her spear's sharp end into the ground. Then she sat down firmly.

"I say we camp on the roadside tonight," she declared, making it clear that this was more of a command as opposed to a suggestion, "We need our strength."

Flaming Star trotted to the roadside and plopped down beside Regina.

Ranger sat down a little to their left. As he did so, he said, "We are going to need to find food, should I scavenge?"

Twilight shook her head as she winced. "I wish we could, but we cannot. After Celestia went mad, she cast a spell upon the land. All foods not distributed by the royal castle have been poisoned by magic. Thus, anything once edible lying upon the landscape has long since been twisted into something deadly and horrendous by black magic."

It was now Ranger's turn to pull a face. "Well, if you put it that way… Flaming Star… could you do something about food?"

Flaming Star sighed, "I do not think I can. I am capable of synthesizing and assembling organic molecules, but I generally would need my Traveler Database to assist in the construction of something as large as a loaf of bread. Since I do not have that any longer… I do not think I can."

"And so we go hungry tonight then," said Regina decisively, "I can live with that. I've done it plenty of times before. However, do not blame me if I end up accidentally eating one of you in my sleep."

Twilight noticeably blanched, but Flaming Star and Ranger just rolled their eyes.

With that, Regina lay down near the dusty road and fell asleep. Flaming Star, ignoring her half-serious joke about her eating them, lay down beside her and went to asleep as well. Twilight lay down to sleep as well a little ways away from Regina and Flaming Star. Ranger looked to Flaming Star and Regina, and then to Twilight. After a moment of hesitation, he trotted over to Twilight and lay down beside her.

The four of them drifted to sleep as a haggard, ravaged, and sun-scorched moon rose into the sky.

* * *

Flaming Star's eyes snapped open. His stomach lurched as he realized Regina was pressing her beak into the crook of his neck. For a moment he thought she was literally trying to eat him, but then he realized that she also had spread a wing over his back. She was unconsciously attempting to cuddle with him.

The suggestiveness of this act was cause enough for Flaming Star to immediately leap up with a gasp of embarrassment and (marginal) horror. This sudden movement woke Regina up as well. Instinctively she rolled over and swung her sharp claws upwards. She would have clawed Flaming Star's eyes out if he had not reduced his body's density swiftly. Her claw passed through his intangible body harmlessly. With that, her eyes snapped open and she quickly got up, then she realized what she had just tried to do.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, embarrassed and dismayed, "I hope I didn't claw your eyes out!"

Body's density returning to usual, Flaming Star winked. "No problem. I hope you didn't end up doing similar things to your companions back from where you are from."

"No. Basil would hold my claw when I was asleep so that when I woke up I wouldn't do that," replied Regina. Her blushing doubled when she realized that she had said that.

Fortunately for them, the awkwardness was dashed by Ranger.

Getting up from where he had been sleeping last night, beside Twilight, Ranger exclaimed, "Why are you two being so loud? Twilight is still sleeping!"

"Not anymore," groaned Twilight softly as his raised voice woke her as well.

Flaming Star huffed in amusement and Ranger paled slightly. Then there was a pause...

"Well, since we are all awake now," said Flaming Star after clearing his throat, "I think we best be on our way. I do believe we are only half a day's march from Ponyville now. Regina, while you were in the air, did you spot anything else that might pose a problem?"

Regina, who was now trying to hide her lasting embarrassment by thoroughly preening her feathers, shook her head and mumbled, "No. We should be clear all the way up to Ponyville. However, I stayed as high as I could when I spotted it, so I could not really see any specific threats inside the town."

Ranger looked to Twilight. "Is there anything we should worry about there?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not really," she said, "There are plenty of guards, but that is because there are rumors that Mayor Mare supports the Rebellion."

"Does she?" asked Flaming Star.

"I believe she does," replied Twilight, "And I certainly hope that belief is true. Other than the few dozen guards that occupy the town, we should be fine. If you can take me to a small cottage that borders Ponyville and a nearby forest, I should be able to find my way to Rainbow Dash from there."

"Fluttershy's Cottage?" asked Flaming Star abruptly.

"Why… yes!" exclaimed Twilight, "Do you know her from the… umm… 'Dimension' you come from?"

Flaming Star could not help but wink. "I sure do! A friend of mine is married to her! I will explain some other time."

For next six hours or so consisted of complete silence and trotting. However, in this silence, team-bonding developed faster than it could possibly have if there had been communication in the first place. Each pony (and Griffon) had each other's back, and they moved as one as they approached Ponyville.

From a distance it looked like every other regular Ponyville in every other regular dimension, but as the team drew closer, the reality behind it became horrendously clear. Bars on windows and doors, fire-gutted buildings, and heavily armed pony guards were everywhere as they drew closer. With a quick gesture, Flaming Star called up the invisibility bubble, and they trotted purposefully towards the town without breaking stride.

"What's the plan?" asked Regina as they moved.

"I suggest we enter straight ahead and then work our way around to the cottage by using the alleyways, it will be the safest and the most covert," replied Ranger.

Flaming Star shook his head. "We have no time," he replied, "We need to move fast and efficiently. With this shield, we can remain undetected as long as I want. We should just go straight through town without slowing down. They cannot stop us."

Ranger sighed. "Okay. Fine. Let's move then."

Flaming Star nodded and motioned to them with a hoof. The four of them stepped into the town limits. The moment they did that… something happened. The thin veil of slight vision-distorting energy that surrounded the group that denoted the presence of the invisibility bubble vanished.

Flaming Star's voice caught in his throat. "The shield… it just… vanished."

Seizing Ranger and Twilight by the scruffs of their neck with her left claw, and Flaming Star's with her right, Regina pulled them with her into an alley way. No sooner had she done that then several guards trotted by them.

The moment they had passed, Regina whirled on Flaming Star. "What the buck happened?!"

Flaming Star closed his eyes for a brief moment. He stiffened and his eyes snapped open.

"Celestia," he breathed, "She's here."

Twilight let out a groan.

"How can you be sure?" pressed Ranger.

"She has an Element. Its powerful magic is distorting the very fabric of reality, and thus I cannot hold the integrity of my invisibility shield together. I cannot pinpoint her exact location, but the Celestia is most certainly in this town."

Tears of panic and terror began to seep from the corners of Twilight's eyes. "What are we going to do?" she asked, her voice rising to a squeak.

"We do as Ranger said," replied Flaming Star, getting over his initial shock, "We take to the side passages and alleyways. We stealthily work our way around the town and get to Fluttershy's cottage. I may not be able to shield us anymore, but that does not change anything."

Ranger nodded his head. "He's right. We can still do this."

However, even before that phrase had finished slipping from his lips and dissolving into the air, a colorful bubble of energy exploded from the center of town and shot outward. The earth sizzled with energy as the bubble of power blasted outwards. In moments it had enveloped them. However, no harm came to them as it passed through them. Then, with a massive blast of sound, the thing popped.

At least a whole minute had passed before someone finally spoke.

It was Flaming Star. "Celestia knows we're here," he breathed, "She knows where we are."

In an instant both ends of the alleyway they were hiding in were blocked by a mass of armored guards.

Regina hissed and held up her spear. "I'm not dying like a rat in a hole," she snarled.

Flaming Star bit his bottom lip so hard that a little blood trickled from the bite wound. Then he said, "You're right. We need to get out."

At one end of the alleyway, the guards blocking the exit parted to let through a powerfully armed, gold-armored Pegasus.

"I am Flash Sentry," the pony declared coldly, "Strangers, you are harboring the fugitive known as Ex-Princess Twilight. Such crimes are punishable by death. However, Almighty Supreme Goddess-Queen of the Sun, Celestia, will be merciful if you lay down your arms and surrender now."

Flash Sentry then made full eye-contact with the terrified Twilight, who looked like she had just wet her hooves. "Do… Not… Resist," he breathed.

Regina stabbed his face with her spear, killing him instantly.

Flaming Star winced noticeably. "I have no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing, really," he mumbled.

With that, he conjured up powerful energy attacks in his hooves and yelled, "Everyone behind me now!"

With Ranger holding off the enemies behind with his halberd at the back, Regina carrying the now-unconscious Twilight in the middle, and Flaming Star in the front, the group moved off with a will.

At least a score of guards blocked the entrance they were charging, and a pony that looked like a captain sneered at Flaming Star's face, saying, "You'll never get by us!"

Flaming Star responded by releasing the attacks he had charged up. The explosion was equivalent to a focused explosion of four packs of C4. The entire group before them was blown away by the blast, and the two cottages that were at the end of the alleyway caved in from the eruption of devastation, their masonry being reduced to dust by the energy attack. As rubble swept in to bury them, Flaming Star released a second attack, this time in the form of a shockwave of kinetic energy. The rubble that was sweeping inward like an avalanche was hurled high into the air, and Flaming Star and his team were able to rush by before the pursuing guards were able buried beneath a deluge of stone bricks. Rushing down a group of randomly picked alleyways, the four of them suddenly found themselves rushing out to the gazebo at the center of town… the worst possible place to be at this time.

In an instant they were surrounded by at least a hundred armed (and brutal) guards. Even in the face of this opposition, Regina, Flaming Star, and Ranger did not waver.

"Hey, Flaming Star," snapped Regina, "Do what you did last time… You know… blow everything up!"

Flaming Star could not help but smile a little as a bit of his past self reemerged. "Too easy."

Flaming Star charged up an explosive energy attack that would level everything in a twenty meter radius and then slammed his hooves down to release it. Nothing happened.

Flaming Star's stomach turned to ice as the realization of what was happening dawned on him.

"Celestia," he murmured, "She's right behind me… isn't she?"

No one replied. Slowly turned around. Before him was the all-powerful Celestia, surrounded by an entourage of gold-clad Unicorns. She was like any regular Celestia would look like, with her beautiful tiara and gold-clad hooves… but that was not set her apart from them. It was her eyes.

Her eyes were narrowed to slits, like a snake's, and rainbow-colored fire streamed from them.

And there was one more thing that was "marginally" different. Beside her hovered a massive scepter. And set in the very center of the head of said scepter was one of the Elements of Harmony.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes. Hey peoples! It's TDL, creator of Flash Drive and author of the story he comes from, Truly Alive. This chapter was an opportunity to write outside my story for a bit, and naturally I took it. I wrote 90% of it in 3 weeks (10% edited by Torrenta) and I'm back to working on my own story. I don't post as much as I'd like, but that's the life of a 15 y/o freshman I guess. I might write more for this story, at least I hope so. I'd love to hear from you! **  
**Till then,**

**_-TDL_**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Flash Drive ~ Truly Alive by To Define Life

Alex ~ A New Hero by AlexLoneWolf

Ventus ~ Wings of Fate by Nanoman94

* * *

Ventus pushed Alex aside and sped into Fluttershy's home. Flash shrugged and followed suit, Alex picking up the rear.

"Hello? Fluttershy?" Alex called, looking around. He wasn't the most worried one however. Ventus began to panic, throwing open every door, every closet. No cushion left untouched, no bed sheet left undisturbed.

"Fluttershy? Fluttershy! Where are you?!" Ventus yelled, still searching frantically.

Flash snorted in frustration from the doorway. "Uh, guys? Does anyone want to notice the ceiling?" he asked, a hint of annoyance to his voice.

Alex and Ventus both looked upwards, and to their surprise cobwebs filled the ceiling.

"That is odd..." Alex began "I thought Fluttershy didn't keep spiders."

"She doesn't." Ventus said, his voice tight with worry. "She hasn't been here in a long time."

"You say that as if you knew her." Flash interrupted.

"Of course I do! We are all from very similar dimensions, right?" Ventus countered.

"That's not what I meant." Flash continued "So... I'll ask again. Did you know her?"

"Yes. More than anypony else." He snapped, his eyes flashing with an undetectable emotion.

Flash Drive smiled softly. "Good to know we have something in common."

"We need to find her. There has to be a way we can track her down," insisted Ventus, worry still plaguing his tone of voice.

"I don't know if we can, I mean, haven't you seen outside? Something is terribly wrong with this place," interjected Flash Drive.

At this time, Alex spoke up. "How about this: We see if we can find some sort of shelter, but also look for Fluttershy. Sound good?"

"Sounds great. Now let's get a move on." Ventus said, all but eager to start searching elsewhere.

"I don't know what it is, but something here is off..." Flash Drive muttered, his mind still dwelling on the state of Ponyville and Fluttershy's Cottage.

Alex overheard. "How so? I mean, other than the fact everypony is missing and the Everfree is now the Everburnt?"

"I wish I knew. I have this gut feeling something isn't right, something that we aren't seeing yet," replied Flash Drive, giving Alex a side-long glance.

Ventus lead the way out of Fluttershy's cottage. It was a solemn walk, as the three ponies took in the horrendous reality that now surrounded them.

"Okay, if this is like the Ponyville I remember, there should be food storage in those buildings." Flash announced, pointing towards a few of the burnt structures ahead. "If we find food, there's a chance we can bunker down until we figure a way off of here." Flash paused "We need to vigilant. We don't know what evils are out there or what they're doing."

Ventus turned his head; he wasn't listening. His mind was elsewhere, thinking of all the places Fluttershy might have run off to. His thoughts were short lived however, as he caught the faint glimpse of a unicorn as it ran from the outskirts of town and into the tree line brush.

Flash stopped in his tracks, his ears perking up towards the noise. Ventus asked aloud "Did anypony else see that?"

"No, but I sure as hell heard it." came Flash's reply. Thousands of thoughts were spinning through the stallions head. "However, I am not exactly sure that we should follow. We have no idea who it was, or if it was something at all. Let's keep moving."

"We should follow it! Maybe it knows where Fluttershy is!" Ventus insisted, loath to let possible information about Fluttershy's whereabouts go to waste.

"I don't think that's the best idea." Flash thought aloud "We should stick to what we know and hide out in Ponyville. That's our best option."

Ventus grew angry, and turned towards Flash Drive. "Who made you the leader huh? I sure as hell didn't say it was you! If there is a chance to find her… we should take it!"

"Guys, there's a way to compromise this..." Alex began, trying to ease tensions.

Ventus paid no heed. "Look, I'm going after it. Whether you're with me or not." he turned tail, but was soon grabbed by Flash.

"Are you crazy? You can't just walk off by yourself!" Flash snapped angrily.

Ventus was unshaken. "Watch me."

"I won't let someone die, just because they are blinded by grief..." Flash stated blankly.

"I'm not blinded by anything! It's not rational to wait until things sort themselves out! What if nopony is here to help us? We need to sort out what is happening her ourselves. We need to take the first step. What if that pony I saw is a sign?" Ventus ranted.

Flash raised an eyebrow. "Sign for what? A sign that would ultimately lead us off track and strand us out in the forest?!"

"We need to find Fluttershy and the rest," said Ventus, his voice low, "We need to do it now."

"We won't. We are sticking to my plan," said Flash Drive, his equally low and dangerous, "That's that."

Ventus made no reply this time. Instead… He punched Flash, sending the pegasus skidding. Flash blinked before regaining composure.

"Okay, now I'm pissed." Flash Drive growled.

"You guys! There's no way violence is going to solve any of this!" Alex pleaded.

Both Flash and Ventus ignored him. Flash waited for the Pegasus to charge again.

The wait was short lived however, as the green Pegasi rushed towards Flash silently. Flash retaliated, grabbing Ventus's hoof and elbowing him in the face. Ventus reared back from the blow, then whirled around and bucked backwards. Flash hit the deck, the blow missing by mere inches. Pushing himself back up with his wings, he swung with his right hoof. Ventus dodged the blow. The two stared at each other, and then something happened…

A magic aura surrounded Flash Drive. It lifted him high into the air and then shot downward, smashing Flash Drive heavily into the ground. Flash Drive lay on the ground, dazed. There was a pause…

"Oww..." Flash groaned, pushing himself back up. "What the hell?"

"I had an accident, one that gave me magical capabilities. But that doesn't matter now," Ventus his voice tense and serious, "You listen to me Flash: we are going to follow the unicorn through the Everfree. With luck we can get some answers out of him. That is MY final decision."

Ventus then turned tail and began to trot towards the Everfree Forest. Flash, who was still lying on the ground. Every nerve screamed for him to get up and attack the Pegasus again, but, finally, his better judgment won out, and he ended up getting up and following him and Alex as they moved through the ash towards the razed Everfree.

Alex sighed as he trotted. "We didn't have to go through all that. We could have discussed it like civilized ponies." he suggested.

Flash nodded, a little rueful. To his surprise Ventus nodded as well.

"I didn't want to do that." Ventus said. "I wasn't planning on using magic again for a while."

"Things happen, and I'm glad you showed us. Keeping secrets isn't easy, it separates groups more than it unites them." Alex said.

Ventus mulled Alex's words over. "I suppose you're right."

Flash hadn't spoken. As they were trotting, he had begun to mull over Doxia's offer. It had seemed too good to be true: research for a vaccine as payment for simply guarding two crystals. It seemed so easy, but now, as he moved through the mist and ash of a hideous alternate dimension, he began to think about giving up on the deal altogether.

If any thoughts were clear at that moment, they were interrupted by the sound of an explosion. Flash felt it slightly before he heard it, tackling both Alex and Ventus into the ground. The ripple from the explosion came but a second later, and was more powerful than the one Flash had seen earlier upon Alex's appearance.

They were lucky, and Flash knew it. The force pulled out smaller bushes and shrubs by their roots, and the three ponies would have been smashed against the trees if not for their low center of gravity at the time.

The ripple faded into a breeze, and finally calmed completely. Alex got up, brushing the dirt off his coat. Flash was next, followed by Ventus.

"Now is it a good idea to investigate?" Ventus remarked as he gazed towards the remnants of the explosion.

Flash nodded, as did Alex. They made quick work of getting up to speed, making it to the explosion zone in minutes. Without leaves, one would think it's simple to see for far down the line. In fact, it was the opposite. All the ash that was kicked up in their sprint had surrounded them, making visibility go down to a minimum. Time ticked by slowly as the three wandered around aimlessly.

"Dammit! I knew we shouldn't have come here..." Flash muttered. "It was a terrible idea. This ash, coupled with these burnt trees makes it impossible to see. I don't know how we are going to manage getting out of here…"

"So, my idea was terrible? This is my fault now?" asked Ventus sharply.

The two were about to collapse into another argument when something interrupted them… Another voice, not belonging to any of the trio.

"Wake up!"

Ventus and Flash Drive stiffened. Where had this voice come from? Who did this voice belong to? However, before they could contemplate this new mystery, another voice spoke, different than the last one. It was higher pitched, most probably belonging to a female.

"I am awake!"

Alex glanced at Flash Drive, and then moved closer to the sources of the sounds. He pressed up against a tree, and motioned for the other two ponies to do the same. They did so and began to peek about the trees. Unfortunately, there was so much ash and mist hanging in the air that they could see naught but two faint shadows.

"Why... why does your cloak look like that? Who are you?" the smaller, more feminine voice was heard again.

"Cloak? I can't see squat from this perspective..." Flash grumbled, anxious for any visual advancement. He peered in earnest through the ash and mist, but still he could see nothing properly.

"See? There you go again! 'It is all relative', as my great-great-great-great-great grandfather Lord Relative used to say." Snorted the other voice, most likely belonging to a Stallion.

Ventus was the first to speak his mind. "We should head back to Ponyville, these ponies are bonkers. What is it they are even talking about? I can't see anything!"

"I agree. I believe it is best if we just left," said Alex.

"I don't know…" mused Flash, "We are this far out here, we might as well spring up on them. Have them tell us what they know."

Ventus scoffed, "Yeah, says the one who was against following the unicorn in the first place!"

Alex cocked his head to one side as he considered Flash's words. "Flash might be right." he noted "We should ask them what information they have. Just maybe not so violently. Plus, look around you. I doubt we could find our way back through the ash..."

"That hadn't even crossed my mind." Flash thought. "Even if we wanted to go back, our tracks have been filled and packed down by the ash. It would be nearly impossible to trace our steps..."

"Looks like we'll have to go after that unicorn after all..." Ventus said quietly, "Are you ready? On my mark…"

"I'm sorry, but you weren't planning on attacking those two ponies, were you?"

The entire trio froze. That voice did not belong to any of the. But, unlike the other two, it seemed that the owner of this voice had been spying on them, as opposed to being spied on.

"If you have any information, now would be the time to say something," said Flash Drive evenly, his eyes scouring the surrounding area.

"Well, look at this… three ponies, lost amongst the dimensions, just to find yourselves here! What distress..." the voice continued softly, his voice barely audible, "Torn from their homelands, to be scattered across the void like chaff before the scythe, powerless to prevent their alienation. Such things are simply… maddening, don't you think?"

With that, the owner of the voice materialized from the shadows like a phantom. It was an Earth Pony. He was dark as night, completely black everywhere from mane to coat. The most noticeable feature being his eyes, a lime green that glows ever so slightly.

"W-who are you?" Flash asked, suddenly uncertain about the whole confrontation. In fact, as he stared at this strange pony, he felt something he rarely ever felt, creeping up in his stomach: irrational fear.

"I am called Madness." Madness whispered, tipping his bowler hat slightly, "And what you want is to leave here and return to your home dimensions. Not before, of course, finding two elements of harmony, Loyalty and Honesty. Two of the greatest virtues, some may argue. However, in a land such as here, their semantic value seems rather diminished. Not much good comes from such beacons of light in this land of shadows and fires."

Alex backed away. He was understanding less and less as the conversation continued, but then something abruptly compelled him to step forward to understand.

"Flash, were you carrying any Elements when you arrived here?" Alex questioned, trotting over to Flash Drive.

"I was originally. As I believe I have already said, I brought two powerful extradimensional Elements of Harmony… but somehow I lost them when we were swept between dimensions." Flash replied quickly.

"How do you know all this?" Ventus asked in awe, turning to stare at Madness.

"Those who wait in the darkness, see clearly out into the light," was all the Madness said, his voice just above a whisper.

"I don't understand, what do you mean? How do you know all this?" persisted Ventus, determined to grasp at some form of understanding about who this strange pony was. Unfortunately for him, Madness had no intention of giving them anything that he did not want to give. Thus, instead of answering, he went off on a tangent.

"The first of the two elements is not too far," he whispered to them, "It is in the unholy cave of Efficacious Corruption. It is towards the beacon that never dawns, across the darkness that never sets."

He drew an arrow in the dirt with his hoof, and it miraculously didn't fill up with ash immediately.

"If you follow this direction for a while you should reach where you want to go." Madness spoke. Again, his words were seemingly calm but enveloped in an eerie iciness.

"We may speak again." he tipped his hat, and faded from view.

Flash's mouth was agape. Not only did somepony get the jump on him, but they had managed to simply just vanish into thin air as well.

"Was that... even real?" he murmured to himself. His eyes then proceeded to gaze towards the dirt. The arrow was still there, and void of ash somehow.

"It wasn't a dream... we need to get out of here as soon as possible," he then said a little louder, so that his two compatriots could hear.

"So we follow the arrow to the cave, where we'll find the element of harmony right?" Alex asked.

"Most likely. Right Flash?" Ventus ventured, building off of what Alex was saying.

"I would assume so. We should find things like water and food along the way... at least I hope." Flash looked out into the distance. The countless kilograms of ash knocked skyward by the explosion had begun to settle, increasing the visibility to some 50 meters, much better than what they had a moment ago.

Flash turned tail, facing the two other ponies of his group. "I have no idea what's ahead, and I am unsure of the next step, but I am indeed curious. We should follow this arrow and see where it leads."

Alex and Ventus nodded, and with that Flash turned tail and stepped over the arrow, another step closer to getting home.

Meanwhile, Madness hadn't gone away; he simply visibly disappeared. He watched with mild interest as the three ponies vanished. They had never meant to be part of the story he was weaving. They had never meant to be a cog in the machine that was rising from the inglorious mire. But here they were, nonetheless… Side characters for a story surrounding a pony much different than them. As of now, they were detriments to the tapestry that was being woven, and they could not be allowed to interfere. Fortunately, Madness was never one to be flustered by inconveniences. He was never flustered by anything at all, in fact.

"They will follow the arrow, and find their way to the cave," said Madness to himself in hushed tones, "They will travel deep into the void, to touch the source… Then they will truly find what awaits them."

"Where ARE we?" Ventus asked rhetorically. The trio had been walking across a vast plane of ash and fire-schorched earth for many hours now, without getting fatigued, hungry, or thirsty. In fact, the Jack-O-Lantern sun still was hanging in the same position in the sky. For all they knew, they could actually have been travelling across this strange and hideous land for decades, not hours.

"I wish I knew. But either way, I hope wherever we're going has some food." Alex added, his stomach beginning to grumble.

"I don't know how far we've come... and I'm not liking it." Flash Drive muttered a bit loudly. He spoke up "I hope there's food as well. We could be within a kilometer, or a day's walk away from the cave."

"I don't think so, but who knows..." Alex said, not sounding too sure of himself.

"There could be, but there probably isn't. I wouldn't count on it..." a sudden voice said from behind. The three ponies jumped in surprise. A small earth pony was trailing them, his grey eyes soft and sorrowful.

"Maybe there is a cave. Maybe there isn't. Madness is mad, he could have lied to you." he continued.

Although the three extradimensional ponies had stopped, but the earth pony kept on walking. His coat was more visible at close range. It was grey, a shade darker than his eyes with question marks dotting the fur randomly.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you told us your name?" Alex dared to ask.

The earth pony stopped mid step. He sighed "I suppose it won't matter. My name is Query, welcome to the Plane of Doubts."

Flash cocked his head slightly. "Plane of doubts?"

Query answered slowly, each breath seeming to take forever. "That's correct. I've gone other places too, but I don't think anywhere else suits me better. The Garden of Hate… The Apocryphal Tower of Bargaining… No, they were all too sure of themselves, knowing exactly where they were on the scale… I could not stand those places… But here… here has a sense of variableness…"

Alex blinked. "How can you like it here? Its dark, gloomy, and you can't tell where you're headed." Alex was still confused.

Query shrugged and looked off into the distance. "I actually doubt I'll ever truly know why."

"Do you know away to the cave of Efficacious Corruption?" Ventus interrupted.

Query's ears perked up at the mention of the cave. "Why do you need to go there? It's quite dangerous."

There was silence, and the earth pony sighed. "I don't believe you'd share that information with me anyways." Query continued "I think so. I wouldn't be certain, but I have been there before."

"Can you take us there?" Flash interjected. He hated long conversations in the middle of nowhere. He'd seen many die by that; the open left you, well, open. It was dangerous from Flash's perspective and he didn't like it. "It's a yes or a no."

Realizing there was an ultimatum, Query grew visibly nervous. "I... yes. I think. No. Wait... yes."

"Then lead the way. We can walk and talk, maybe you'll tell us a bit of what happened." Flash Drive continued.

The earth pony got in front of the trio and began walking, slightly to the left of the path they were on before.

"What do you mean 'what happened'?" Query inquired "I'm certain that I'm not the kind of pony to know what things were like before this."

Alex had yet another question. "What is this place? Does it have a name? I mean, it's obviously Equestria, but..."

Query cut him off. "Of course it has a name. Welcome to Limbo. Here, there is no place like 'Equestria; or whatever it is you say… It's just... 'Limbo'. Limbo has, is, and always will be Limbo. Standing sentinel here on the plane of reality."

Flash Drive glanced in interest at both Alex and Ventus. The gears in his head began to turn at the sound of such an odd name.

"I'm sure you'll piece it together in time. Well, at least I hope." Query eyed the ground more steadily now, the ash and fog beginning to grow thicker once more.

The trio leaned in to converse quietly.

"Do you think he's trustworthy?" Ventus whispered.

"I don't know. Everypony here seems completely insane." Alex replied, "Everything is in riddles. Even that land itself resembles a long-unsolved paradox."

"I say he has a better chance of getting us there than anypony else. If we want a shot at getting there, this is it." Flash finalized. The two other ponies nodded in agreement.

Ventus sped ahead for a moment before slowing down beside Query. "How far do you think we are? An hour? A day?" he asked.

Query stopped and stared into the space before him. "Try a second."

Ventus was given no time to question his statement, as the blurred mist and ash began to reveal a cliff face dead ahead. Off to the left was a small opening in the wall, maybe 3 meters tall and 2 meters wide.

The four ponies grew closer, and the cave became more apparent.

Alex was the first to break the silence. "Is that light coming from inside?"

Query nodded, and the ponies gathered around the door. A sign was carved above the entrance.

It read: "To all who search there are secrets, but to those who find there are none. Within yourself you find something, but what is that something in return?"

Flash Drive chuckled sarcastically. "Well that's inviting."

Ventus stared into the soft light of the cave. "But do we really have any other choice but to press on now?"

"So, if I understand correctly," said Alex slowly, "We are going in here to find some super-charged version of my dimension's Elements of Harmony. When we find it… we can go home?"

Flash nodded in response. That was how he understood it, and, now, he fervently hoped that his understanding alone was sufficient for once.

The four ponies walked inside, the ash seeming to dissipate as they entered. It was cool and damp inside, and seemed rather welcoming when compared to the sickly feel that hung heavy over the land of Limbo outside. Unfortunately, the marginally good elements of the cave vanished in an instant. Just as they all entered the cave, the exit vanished. That was it. Just as the last hoof made it in, there was no longer an exit, almost as if it had never been there in the first place.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes. Hello! This is TheFederationJustice here, I wrote this chapter for you all! It was a little out of my comfort zone, if I had a choice this chapter would involve more Starships and bombardment Rods from orbit. This was an interesting experience, and I will write another chapter in the future. (Hopefully). Anyways, you didn't come here to listen to me talk. Here's the chapter:**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Eclipse ~ Orbit by The Federation Justice

Greg ~ Human in Equestria: A Voice Within by HUNGRYBURGER25

Mike ~ A New Beginning by Kiliani

* * *

"All hail Nightmare Moon. Supreme Empress of Equestria!?" Greg questioned, quickly turning to look at Eclipse. He stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head.

"We need to get out of here, any suggestions?" Mike asked, switching his gaze between Eclipse and Greg.

"Well, I don't want to draw the attention of those Soldiers, we will utilize quick and silent movements." Eclipse suggested. No, ordered. Eclipse, to punctuate this, lowered herself closer to the ground and began stepping in the direction they came. Greg and Mike followed, keeping an eye out for any activity.

They were making great progress, but the plan to escape the Village without being confronted was blasted into a million pieces.

Out of the night, ferocious looking guards landed around them, cutting off all avenues of escape. They all wore black and purple armor, which fitted seamlessly across their entire body. The guards had no helmets, however, their wings looked incredibly menacing. They had the shape and texture of a Bat's, and they all carried Shortswords, each made to the highest and purest quality. They almost hurt to look at them. Mike and Greg entered a fighting stance, while Eclipse simply scoffed, and rolled her eyes.

The exact moment they noticed Eclipse, they instantly bowed down as if she were the Messiah. "M-my Empress! I thought you were back at the Castle, what are you doing here?" The leader said, still quivering slightly as kept down. At first Eclipse was slightly confused. Why were they acting like this? Then it dawned on her: Nightmare Moon was ruler here. However, she was Nightmare Moon, if not from a different dimension. In an instant she saw a chance to glean information as to what in the world was going on. In a moment she put on a brilliant façade.

"The appropriate question would be why you are here. Didn't I order you to guard the Castle? ANSWER ME!" Eclipse growled, causing the Guard Captain to tremble in fear.

"I-I'm sorry, please don't kill me!" He squeaked, and Eclipse simply motioned for him to stand. Greg and Mike still stood in a fighting stance, and Greg slowly hissed something only Mike and Eclipse could hear: "Shut up."

Eclipse raised a hoof, and acted like she was going to hit the guard. She heard the word, and turned her head to look at him with lightning speed. "What was that?" She asked, a low feral tone present in her voice. "Wasn't talking to either of you."

Eclipse turned her attention back to the Night guard, slowly pacing around him. "Well. You better give me a good reason to not kill you." She said, flicking her tail in his face as she circled him. "Let's test your Loyalty. How did I take over Equestria?"

The guard gave a shaky nod, "You defeated Celestia the Tyrannical in the Castle of the Two Sisters, as you remember. Celestia tried to pull out those wretched Elements of Harmony, and tried to seal your Highness away on the Precious Moon. However, the fool happened to not summon them correctly... and you ended the fight pretty quickly, in fact. You sealed that False Leader into the burning Sun for a Thousand years. As a result, your radiance reached all of Equestria and you became the true Ruler of Equestria... and several more countries, only the Stallion Empire held on, which you will conquer eventually, I'm sure." He replied, his teeth chattering, hoping his answer was correct.

Eclipse snorted a blast of air through her nose, circling the Guard one more time. "Very good. You may live."

Mike and Greg were still locked tightly into a fighting stance, and didn't react as Nightmare stepped back a few feet, bumping into Mike gently.

"Wait. In this Timeline I defeated Celestia instead of being Banished by her? All of Equestria recognizes me as Ruler..?" murmured Eclipse to herself, "Isn't that what I've always wanted? No. I have Langley now. But... that does sound nice, Doesn't it?

Greg spoke, "We have company," he pointed to the sky.

Eclipse glanced upward, and it took all of her willpower to not flatten her ears against her skull. The true Nightmare Moon has just arrived on the scene in an array of unholy moonlight.

Nightmare Moon landed, no, crashed into the ground. She created a crater, which she quickly chuckled at. She stepped out of the now smoking pavement, and walked towards Eclipse, eyes examining every portion of her she could see.

"Well, what do we have here?" Nightmare said, her voice sounding more poisonous than the fiercest snake on the planet. "Do my eyes deceive me? My loyal guards bowing down to this... lookalike of me?"

Nightmare growled suddenly, blasting one of her guards into shreds. "You seem to have companionssss..." She whispered into Eclipses ear. Eclipse was now beginning to feel fear, something she was not accustomed to. "Well, whoever you are, you happen to be an Alicorn... something that is incredibly powerful, and is reserved as the Master Race..."

Greg observed the two Alicorn's, one shrinking away from the other. He didn't like this, but knew he could not take the hostile down in an instant.

"Tell me, darrlliiiiinng." Nightmare Moon said, "Do you want power? A place beside me? Subjects? Your own land?" Nightmare hummed in fake thoughtfulness, "I acquired these things when I destroyed all of those puny little countries, and their weapons did little to stop me. I burned down villages, tore down Fortresses, and massacred the people until nothing remained! Land for me to claim, I say."

Eclipse seemed visibly torn, her eyes flicking back and forth quickly. They seemed wide, Eclipse was no longer the proud Mare she used to be, she was a cowering Foal.

"You can have all of those things and more, if only you let me tear apart these things behind you. Let me hear their cries of Agony and Despair as I tear them apart, showing how powerful I am! A pact of blood, you could say..."

Eclipse's eyes widened. She wanted to kill innocent people? Well, she wasn't so sure about 'Innocent', but they haven't done anything wrong. What was her goal? What does she do? Massacre entire towns at once?!

Eclipse made up her mind, "No, I won't listen to you! You murderer!"

"Very well." Nightmare Moon charged her horn, and fired the first shot.

Eclipse dodged this quickly, before jumping over the circle of guards and rushing towards an advantageous position.

Eclipse kept running, weaving back in forth to dodge various shots from Nightmare Moon, who was relentlessly casting her magic in an attempt to destroy, or completely de-face, Eclipse.

All of her shots missed, however. Giving Eclipse the time she needed to cast a shield, which absorbed the final shot with ease.

Eclipse lowered herself down slightly, wings flaring in a show of defiance. She didn't even flinch when a beam powerful enough to atomize every single atom in her body was absorbed by her shield. She dropped the shield for a quick moment, and fired a devastating beam of Magic that lit up the area for miles, as if the Sun had returned.

Nightmare Moon had casted her own shield, which deflected the powerful beam into a nearby house. Needless to say, that house (and several houses behind it) were destroyed.

Eclipse growled at her luck, and took off into the air with her large magnificent wings.

She dropped the bubble again, and was grazed by a beam of superheated energy. Eclipse gasped, falling a few feet before getting ahold of herself and leveling her flight. Eclipse returned fire, blasting a crater in the spot Nightmare had been just seconds earlier. She caught a glimpse of Greg and Mike, but was too busy trying to find the Genocidal maniac of Nightmare Moon to really watch them.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a silhouette of an Alicorn. Eclipse fired at it, but her beam was once again blocked by the Nightmare's energy shield. "C'mon! DROP THE SHIELD AND FIGHT LIKE A REAL MARE!" Eclipse yelled to Nightmare, before diving out of the way of an incredibly menacing bolt of Lightning. Her fur stood up on end, making her look like a terrified cat. Pushing this ridiculous fashion statement out of her mind, she dove between two houses, and flapped into the air again shortly before the Houses exploded in a flash of brilliant green light.

Turning her attention back to Nightmare Moon, Eclipse generated an illusion spell. The spell glowed around Nightmare's shield, but was ineffective.

"You Foal! You cannot scare me, I AM A NIGHTMARE. MASTER OF TRICKS AND ILLUSION!" shrieked Nightmare Moon.

"Such power. How is it possible?" breathed Eclipse to herself as she dodged another attack.

Well, she didn't dodge them, just let her shield absorb the blows. She fired a shot back, which tore through another house instead of connecting with her target. She buzzed over Mike and Greg, who were fighting various Night Guards. Eclipse wished she could help, but she needed to keep that Nightmare from killing her... her... Friends? No. Acquaintances.

While she was momentarily distracted, a bolt of Lightning seared through her weakened shield and burned a large portion of her side, causing her to gasp before plummeting to the ground. She slammed into a small river, she quickly scrambled out of the water and put a hoof on the left side of her Body. Blood was on her Hooves when she pulled it away.

"Ow... ow..." She hissed to herself. Before she let herself get too distracted with the agony that was now the left side of her body, she looked around and quickly took off into the air again, ignoring the incredible pain. This was nothing, of course. She had been tortured before, literally. With knives and fire.

She had seen the worse, a little pain was nothing.

Eclipse targeted Nightmare Moon, and fired a single shot that destroyed several houses in the shockwave, but Nightmare Moon, who had an incredibly sturdy Energy shield, shrugged it off. This pissed Eclipse off, really pissed her off. Activating a speed-boost spell, Eclipse shot towards her adversary at mind-numbing speeds. Nightmare was taken by surprise as Eclipse landed only a foot or so away, and fired a beam of Magic. This beam was cut off by Nightmare's own, causing a ball of Magic to start accumulating. Nightmare Moon was in shock, the ball was being pushed towards her at an alarming rate. This Imposter was more powerful than her!

Nightmare Moon quickly considered her options, and found them lacking. In a last-ditch attempt, she chose what seemed like the only thing left to save her from a painful end: the mystic orb that had mysteriously appeared in her chamber only a couple days ago. Struggling to keep conscious as she fought against the pressing magic of Eclipse, Nightmare Moon fumbled with her obsidian-encrusted saddlebag. From the bag she drew forth one of Eclipse's Elements of Harmony. The Element of Laughter, to be specific, which was actually rather ironic. Tapping its crystalline surface gently, Nightmare Moon called upon its incredible powers. With a shrieking roar, the Element blazed to light. In a nanosecond it fired of a sharp bolt of pure power. It struck Eclipse straight in her majestic chest, blasting her backwards scores of meters. Eclipse was unconscious before she even came to a stop.

"There's so many of these damn Guards!" Greg growled, knocking one out and killing another.

Just as he said this, a flash of bright light was seen. They both turned to look as long as they could, Eclipse was on the ground. She appeared to have lost.

"Eclipse is down!" Mike yells, punching another guard in the head, dropping the hostile, "We need to get to her!

Greg nodded, "Let's get past these guards, first!"

However, before he could move, Greg suddenly stiffened, as if something was talking to him, whispering things only he could hear. However, after a pause, Greg recovered and growled to himself, "What do you mean Voice? I can't leave her to die!"

Mike was grazed by a sword, the very tip slashing along his right cheek. He kicked the Soldier back, and allowed Greg to stomp on his throat. The guard sputtered and coughed, before dying.

"One down, fifty or so to go…" Mike grimly, rubbing his cheek slightly when he had a moment.

Mike held his own weight, but Greg did most of the Killing.

Guard after guard after guard died, they stood little no chance against Greg, it was getting intense! Greg tore a sword from one of the Guards, and proceeded to kill the guard he took it from, and several more who had tried to form a shield wall. Luckily, Nightmare Moon was distracted. Or they would both probably be dead. Another few guards rushed forward, screaming in-comprehensible things, only to die in the name of their empress.

Regardless, they were beating back the Guards one by one, two by two, and three by three. They kept coming, as if they were pouring from the mouth of a river. Through all of the chaos, they were gaining ground. The roar of battle still in their ears as they push forward, killing as many as possible. They turned around, and rushed towards Eclipse as fast as they could. Leaping over a dead body, Greg sprinted to Eclipse, sliding against the road. As soon as he reached her, he was Frozen solid. So was Mike. They both dropped to the ground, and Nightmare Moon grinned victoriously.

"Well well well... You managed to defeat my Guards, but you foolishly returned for her when you could've ran and escaped me. Well, I accept your souls as offerings."

Nightmare Moon circled them, eyeing her catch in delight. "I'll splash your blood across the Midnight plains, your bones used for my Throne, your Skull used as a decoration, and perhaps a Bowl for me to eat out of..."

Nightmare kicked the unconscious form of Eclipse, "Well. I don't know what I'm going to do with her. Perhaps consume her slowly, in non-vital areas. Awake."

This caused Nightmare to giggle, stomping on Eclipse's chest. Not hard enough to break her ribs, but still enough to make the Alicorn yelp in her sleep. "Look how weak she is... It's surprising she even put up much of a fight." Eclipse would have stood up, turned around, and bit Nightmare's nose off if she had been capable of consciousness.

Just as she had made her up her mind how to kill each of the three, screams and yells emanated from within the Ponyville borders. Growling angrily at the new distraction, Nightmare whirled to face the nearest guard.

"What is going on?!" she snapped.

The guard shook his head shakily, denoting the fact that he had no idea. Nightmare Moon promptly vaporized him. Just as the ashes of the newly deceased guard settled, a scout came galloping up to her.

"You majesty!" he squeaked, "The Resistance… They're attacking! They are trying to get at the barracks! We cannot get to them though! They are too quick! Leaping from the shadows and then vanishing like wisps!"

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes and sighed. "I will deal with them. Ensure that these three don't wake up, though I doubt the will."

The scout nodded quickly. Nightmare Moon spread her wings and took off. The moment she vanished into Ponyville, the guard dropped dead… with an arrow in his throat.

Out of the shadows of the nearby Everfree Forest stepped Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Shining Armor.

"They put up an amazing fight. We need to take them with us," said Shining Armor. The two mares nodded quickly and went to work.

Rainbow Dash carried Mike, and took off from the ground. Shining Armor carried Greg around his back, quickly motioning for Twilight to pick up Eclipse. Eclipse was surrounded by a magical shimmer, and she was lifted off the ground. The trio (and incapacitated Human, and one Night Queen) rushed out of town quickly as possible, only letting out a sigh of relief as they entered the Everfree Forest.

Slowly they made their way down the dark path, Shinning's horn alight to illuminate the surrounding area. "C'mon, I know they are heavy! We just have to get to our camp before Nightmare Moon comes looking for us!" Twilight Sparkle said, a nervous twang in her tone.

Shinning nodded, keeping an eye out into the Forest, squinting to see anything that might be hidden in the dark that they could not see. In the distance, dark looming objects grew closer and closer. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped, "Uh... Guys? We brought Nightmare Moon with us!"

Twilight nearly passed out, while Shinning Armor got into a defensive stance to protect Rainbow Dash and his Sister. "What are you talking about? Nightmare Moon went into Ponyville!"

"Uh, No. Look at the pony Twilight brought! She's an Alicorn!" Rainbow Dash gulped, "She's Nightmare Moon!"

Shinning Armor gasped, unlike himself as his eyes fell upon Eclipse, whose body was lit up by the moonlight playing through the thick braches of the forest. "There's two of them... How? HOW? I saw Nightmare right there, executing her Troops!"

Twilight regained her composure, "Whoever it is, we need to tie her up. Magical Restraints, Rope, anything to keep that Mare contained until we know who or what she is."

Shinning and Rainbow Dash agreed, hauling their cargo forward once again.

They approached a small stream of water, which had steep sides and treacherous wooden logs sharpened into points facing outwards. Acting as a form of defense. The stream had one bridge constructed over it, which looked like it could be cut to keep the Defense a little easier, and the offense loads harder. The bridge was made out of two spruce trees, laying side by side with Oak planks laying overtop of them, nailed tightly to the logs. The bridge was sturdy enough to hold the weight of Shinning, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash with ease. The bridge creaked slightly as each of them stepped off, quickly making their way to a roaring bonfire that had plenty of buckets of water to put it out if need be located close by. They dropped off their find, which caused a murmur of whispers to start up from the huts.

The population of the small camp – undoubtedly the "Resistance" Nightmare Moon's soldiers spoke of – began to slowly seep out into the night, circling around the newcomers, whispering excitedly as they waited for Twilight to speak.

"I know you all might be a little bit apprehensive about the beings we brought into our camp, Trust me, I am too. These creatures, and surprisingly, this Alicorn, has been attacked by Nightmare Moon. Shinning Armor. Rainbow Dash, and I witnessed the entire fight. They each have incredible abilities in Combat... Mostly," she said.

Eclipse groaned as she began to wake up, feeling returning to her aching body. She gasped as she shot up, "Langley? Langley?!" She yelled, looking around frantically. She noticed Twilight, and froze stiff.

"Who the Hell are you?" Eclipse growled.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes. Hello everyone! This is Torrenta. I hope you all enjoyed the last two chapters, I most certainly did. Either way, I have nothing much else to say aside from enjoy! Oh, and there may be a small chance there will be no chapter next week. Anyway, read away!**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Flaming Star ~ A Mending Soul by Torrenta

Ranger ~ Guardians of Equestria by PCgamer238

Regina ~ Kingdom of Everfree by HeartlessSpartan

* * *

Flaming Star flattened his ears to the side of his skull and actually drew back his lips into a snarl.

Regina hoisted her spear, and Ranger brandished his halberd.

Celestia looked down at the three beings regally, with not even a bit of fear. After raking the three with her malicious vision, her scathing eyes came to rest upon Flaming Star.

"You," she said, arrogance and hatred bubbling heavily in her voice, "You destroyed those two buildings in fire and brimstone with naught but your two hooves. How?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" snapped Flaming Star (his old self becoming more prominent now that he was faced with death, untold distances from his loved ones), "Tell you what, toss away that glowing specter, and I will show you exactly what I did."

Celestia just ignored him and looked to Regina. "A Griffon?" she snorted, "How odd. How did you manage to escape from the circus cages, beast?"

"I… am not… a beast!" shouted Regina. Spreading her wings, the Griffon shot toward Celestia with incredible speed. Any normal pony (even an Alicorn) would have been dead in seconds, but Celestia was no ordinary pony. With the slightest gesture, Celestia called upon the power of her captured Element of Harmony, and casts its abilities against her attacker. With a massive flash of light, a bubbling wave of pure energy rippled outward, ionizing the air and firing off bolts of plasma in every direction. Regina struck the wall of power head-on. With another flash, the poor being shot in the opposite direction with equal (if not greater) force. She struck the ground, smoking and dazed. Clearly incapacitated.

Gently ruffling her wings' feathers as if literally nothing had happened, Celestia then turned her attention to Twilight (who Regina had set down the moment Celestia had appeared) who was just waking up from her bout of fainting.

"You," chuckled Celestia, "My 'faithful' student. How are you?"

Twilight's eyes' pupils shrunk to the size of pinholes. Immediately she attempted to back down meekly, but it was too late. With a nonchalant (and practically complacent) flick of the scepter, she levitated Twilight into the air. Her hooves restrained by the magic, and her horn rendered useless by the overwhelming power of the Element, Twilight was rendered completely helpless, spread-eagled like a ragdoll for all to see.

"I thought you would have been beheaded by the roadside hours ago," said Celestia, her voice soft and venomous, "I suppose I should never have trusted those bungling guards to do important work."

"P-please!" cried Twilight in a final plea. Celestia just ignored her.

Turning her back on the group, she levitated the captured Twilight in front of her and presented her like a trophy to the sea of guards before her.

"This is what happens to all that defy me!" the mad queen shrieked. With the slightest gesture, Celestia doubled the power output of the Element.

Twilight let out a throat-rending scream as her limbs began to be slowly pulled away from her body.

Ranger could take no more of this. Without a single sound he quickly hefted his spear and hurled it. He did it so quickly and so quietly that not a single pony noticed the action before it was too late. The spear shot through the air and smashed into the scepter that was hovering at Celestia's side. The scepter's power went out and spiraled away from the queen.

With the power of the Element no longer distorting the fabric of reality, Flaming Star's Dimensional Traveler abilities returned in full power. He took complete advantage of this. Slamming his hooves down as hard as he could, he released a massive static electricity explosion.

The blast immediately dropped the whole hostile assembly, including Celestia, rendering all of their limbs horribly numb. Twilight fell to the ground, only to be caught by Ranger.

"We have her, let's get the hell out of here!" roared Ranger. Flaming Star nodded. Calling upon his powers once more, he prepared to teleport them out, but then hesitated as his eyes fell upon the lone Element, lying beside Celestia, unguarded.

Divining his purpose almost in an instant, the weakened Twilight cried out hoarsely, "We have no time! We need to go! Please!"

But it was too late. Celestia's eyes snapped open. In one smooth movement she leapt to all fours, snatched up the scepter, and activated its powers. A multicolored aura of light rippled outwards in a shockwave of power. In a moment Flaming Star's powers were useless once more, and Celestia had the upper hand.

Rearing back the scepter, Celestia hissed, "You DARE oppose me? I will tear you all to shreds!"

With that, the insane Alicorn of the Sun flicked it. A jagged bolt of bright energy shot out from the epicenter of the jewel. His Dimensional Traveler reflexes kicking in immediately, Flaming Star slammed into Ranger, plowing him and himself out of the way of the attack. The bolt seared past them a hairsbreadth away, slamming into a small cottage behind them. The structure (and any poor ponies inside) were immediately turned to naught but dust.

Blanching visibly at the sheer power of the attack, Ranger roared, "We need to get the buck out of here!"

Flaming Star nodded as he dove under a second attack. "I agree! Grab Regina! Get Twilight and her out of here!"

Ranger nodded, doing as he bade, without question. Tossing the unconscious Regina onto his back, he galloped towards the Everfree forest with Twilight close on his heels.

Flaming Star ducked another attack, kicked off a portion of a decimated wall, and landed next to a lone spear. Sweeping it up, he dove to the side again, narrowly dodging yet another attack. As he flew through the air, he hurled the spear. It flew true. It was a centimeter from piercing the black heart of this Tyrannical Celestia, but the queen immediately protected herself by vaporizing the wood, ionizing the air around it, and scattering the molecular makeup of the spear across a kilometer radius.

Though this vicious response to the attack made it clear who was the safer of the two combatants, Celestia was nonetheless shocked by how close she had come to her death. She regarded Flaming Star with something between pure hatred and begrudging respect.

"You are fast, powerful, and intelligent," she said, sickly sweet venom dripping from her tone of voice, "Who are you, really?"

Flaming Star could not help but grin "I'm an enigma wrapped inside of a puzzle stuffed inside a paradox."

With that, Flaming Star picked up a hatchet and a lance using in a single hoof. Leaping into the air, he spun about and launched the lance with commendable accuracy. Of course, these things were useless in the face of the borderline-god-powers of the mad queen. With a single gesture, Celestia teleported out of the way. But the moment she materialized, Flaming Star hurled the hatchet. It slammed heavily into the scepter. It knocked the thing free of Celestia's magical grasp for just a second, returning Flaming Star his powers. A second was all Flaming Star needed. In an instant he conjured up a whole set of smoke grenades. He immediately pulled the pins and dropped them, obscuring him from view in a billowing tornado of smoke. Celestia snorted in frustration and literally wiped the gasses from existence with a multicolored beam of energy, but as the smoke cleared, a single verdict was clear: she was too late, her quarry was gone.

Celestia actually blinked in surprise. Then she hissed loud and long between her sharp teeth. Then she whirled and fired a massive beam of power at Ponyville gazebo, immediately replacing the building with a smoking crater (and turning at least a dozen of the nearby unconscious guards to ash).

"I WILL find you," she said quietly as she held her scepter in front of her, gazing deep into the yellow glassy surface of her greatest power source.

"Where… are we… going?" gasped Twilight as she struggled to keep up with Ranger.

"To the Everfree Forest. We can run along the border of the forest, obscured by the bushes, until we can come out by Fluttershy's cottage. We can then find Rainbow Dash," replied Ranger quickly. That very moment they broke free of the surrounded houses and ran past the Ponyville town border. With the Everfree Forest now in clear view, Ranger put on an extra burst of speed, hurtling toward forest at top speed. Gasping for breath, Twilight stopped running and activated a teleportation spell. She teleported beside some bushes within the forest the instant Ranger arrived as well. Breath harshly out of his nose to catch his breath, Ranger sat down on his haunches as he gently set Regina down.

The Griffon slumped limply to the ground.

"Will she… will she be okay?" asked Twilight quietly.

Almost as if she was responding on her own, Regina groaned. Then her eyes snapped open and she leapt up.

"Where is that bucking pony?" she yelled, "I'm going to tear her to shreds!"

Ranger winced as he momentarily imagined trying to clamp a hoof over Regina's terribly sharp beak.

"Please Regina!" cried Twilight, "There is nothing we can do right now! She is too powerful! Remember what just happened to you!"

Regina whirled on Twilight and glared ferociously at the poor pony. Twilight gave an almost Fluttershy-like "eep!" and backed down immediately.

There was a pause as the Griffon struggled to get her anger under control. After she did that, she sighed and looked about.

"Where's Flaming Star?" she asked.

Ranger paled slightly as he guessed what Regina's next course of action would be after he told her. "Um… He stayed behind."

Regain whirled to face Ranger. "What?!"

"He is still fighting Celestia to buy us time."

Regina immediately got up. Snapping her beak dangerously, she replied curtly, "Then I am going to help him."

She turned straight about and almost immediately collided with Flaming Star, who came hurtling through the underbrush.

Flaming Star tried to come to a skidding stop, but still managed to end up tumbling head-over-hooves with Regina. In an instant Regina leapt up and snapped, "Flaming Star! What the buck were you thinking, taking her on like that?!"

Flaming Star just lay on the ground, panting. "Well," he gasped, "I was thinking that I wouldn't live forever anyway, so I might as well go out with a bang."

Regina snapped her beak angrily. "You could have died!"

"That was the general idea."

"Stop it, Flaming Star! You know what I mean!"

Flaming Star regarded Regina with interest, who had just spoken. Had she finally decided that they were a proper team, and thus worth protecting? Had he earned that? Sadly, his contemplations were interrupted by massive explosion. Everypony's head turned to look towards Ponyville.

Flames and smoke trailing from her outspread wings like a long, thick cloak, Celestia rose above the embers of what looked to be a third of a now-razed Ponyville. Her eyes were full of murder, and she scoured the border of the Everfree Forest with a steel-cold eye.

Regina dove to the ground the moment she saw Celestia, and the entire group huddled together, hoping to God that the mad queen did not find them, omnipotent as her powers were.

"Flaming Star, can you use your powers?" whispered Ranger as the group pressed closer together.

"No. That goddamn Element has completely ruined everything," said Flaming Star breathlessly, "I'm… I'm actually a normal pony now…"

"Well, you're still an Alicorn," said Twilight, "That's something."

"Yeah," whispered Flaming Star back mirthlessly, "An Alicorn with no magic, and who spent so much time using his levitation abilities that he has no idea how to actually use his wings."

"You're joking, right?" asked Regina, "I mean, how does that even work?"

"You three, stop it," snapped Ranger, "We are doing nothing to better our situation, which was the reason for my question in the first place. We need to find a way to get out of here."

Flaming Star bit his bottom lip as he peeked above the large thorny bush that obscured their forms from the sight of Celestia. Almost the moment he did that, Celestia whirled about to look in the exact same direction. Seeing this coming, Regina quickly grabbed the scruff of his neck gently with his beak and hauled him back to the ground.

"Ow, easy there, Regina," complained Flaming Star, rubbing the nape of his neck, "Your beak is as sharp as daggers…"

"Thank you."

"That wasn't really a compliment."

There was a pause as the two beings realized they had not said anything useful for the last few seconds.

"Well, Celestia is too smart. She has the high ground. It will be almost impossible to move from here, to the forest outside Fluttershy's Cottage, to Fluttershy's Cottage itself," said Flaming Star after the moment of silence.

"What are we going to do?" asked Twilight, a hint of panic creeping back into her voice, "She has us trapped… again!"

"Do we need to fight our way out?" asked Regina, more than ready to do so.

"We can't," replied Ranger, "Flaming Star's abilities are down, and even we as a team cannot take down Celestia alone, let alone her with her entire entourage of blood-thirsty soldiers."

"I agree with Ranger," whispered Flaming Star back as the group pressed even closer to the ground in hopes to obscure their forms from Celestia's vision, "Right now stealth is our best option."

"And even that poses a problem," added Ranger, "as Flaming Star stated: Celestia has the high ground. We are trapped."

Suddenly another explosion ripped through Ponyville. Massive red and orange plumes of fire rose above the tree tops, belching forth sparks and ash. Clearly this had not been Celestia's doing, for the crazed Alicorn whirled to face the direction of the commotion. Obviously the group huddling below should have taken advantage of this distraction, but all they did was hesitate.

"What… the… hell…?" breathed Flaming Star.

"Quick blockheads! Get a move-on!" cried a voice.

Twilight spun around, finding herself nose-to-nose with Rainbow Dash. She looked like any regular Rainbow Dash from any of the regular My Little Pony dimensions, but she was now adorned with bronze armor and a bloodied sword that was strapped to her flank.

"Well, don't hang around!" she snapped, ignoring the delighted cry from Twilight, "We caused a distraction… use it!"

Regina, Ranger, and Flaming Star leapt up as Rainbow Dash hauled Twilight up.

"Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Twilight, "We thought we were doomed!"

"Yeah, yeah, well, you aren't. Move!" was all the reply that Twilight got.

"Well, apparently attitudes and dispositions rarely alter through the dimensions," snorted Flaming Star as he took off along the border of the Everfree Forest, toward Fluttershy's house.

He was soon accompanied by Rainbow Dash, who was flying adjacent to him. "Sorry to bother you, but… um… who the BUCK are you?" she said, almost nonchalantly.

Flaming Star gave her a quick glance as he said, "I'm not from around here. But, yes, I am an Alicorn… And Alicorn with no powers apparently. The new powers of Celestia have disarmed everything I had."

"Not from around here, eh? You're going to have to better than that, stranger."

"Look, Rainbow Dash, we have no time to be suspicious. Running for life first, discussing minutiae later."

Rainbow Dash looked a little disgruntled by this answer, but chose to accept it for the time being. She slowed he airspeed velocity a tad so that she pulled up side-by-side Twilight.

"Yo, so pal, what's going on here?" she asked.

"I tried to get the new weapons that our spies had found, but Celestia got to it first," said Twilight, "I then absolutely ruined my cover as Celestia's student when I tried to smuggle it out. I was caught, captured, sentenced to death, and then bundled into a prison carriage so that I could be silently murdered and dumped on the roadside. However, I was saved by these three."

"So, what, are they like a separate resistance group or something?"

"I have no idea. I don't think so. They actually seem to have no idea what they are doing."

Regina (who was also flying) pulled up beside the other side of Twilight and snapped, "Thanks for stating how much confidence you have in us. We were doing just fine before that."

At that moment they came into full view of Fluttershy's Cottage. It looked quite similar to what it looked like in any other dimension, except for the fact that it was totally abandoned. The animal pens were decrepit and empty, and every possible opening to the house itself was boarded up by either wood or steel bars.

With the landmark now in sight, the group of five swerved towards it sharply, going full steam until they skidded to a stop just outside.

"I think my powers have returned," said Flaming Star the moment they arrived, voice full of desperate hope, "Do you want me to blow the door down?"

Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes and went around the large trunk of the tree-like cottage to another spot that was adorned with neither a door nor a window. It was simply a long strip of blank bark and wood. However, the moment Rainbow Dash began to tap certain places, a door formed out of thin air.

"Well, that was so obviously covert that it could be both inconspicuous and conspicuous at the exact same time," mumbled Flaming Star as Rainbow Dash turned to motion the group inside.

"I don't care if there was a giant sign that read 'secret entrance: enter here.' As long as we get some cover for a moment, I'm good," said Regina giving Flaming Star a slap of the back.

Flaming Star winced. He then returned the slap by slightly shoving her.

"You two!" snapped Rainbow Dash, "Stop screwing around and get in here!"

The two obliged with alacrity by leaping inside. Rainbow Dash gave the surrounding area a quick scan before sneaking inside and surreptitiously closing the hidden door.

Less than a second later, Celestia, with the blood-red sun streaming through her massive, tattered, outspread wings, rocketed high into the sky. Eyes blazing with unholy power, she scoured the whole of Equestria in a single sweep. Unfortunately for her, the insect-equivalent prey she was seeking had vanished from her sight. However, she was not worried. She was a god. She had all the time in the world to find them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes. Greetings people! I am sorry for being gone for such an incredibly long time, but I have been very busy with school. In addition to that, I have been having incredible bursts of inspiration for different and new stories that have been filling my mind and consuming my free time. (If any of you are interested in what I have been thinking of creating, check out my Profile for previews.) Anyway, I am proud to present you with the newest chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Flash Drive ~ Truly Alive by To Define Life

Alex ~ A New Hero by AlexLoneWolf

Ventus ~ Wings of Fate by Nanoman94

* * *

"Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear…" groaned Query, who suddenly seemed a lot less cryptic and a whole lot more worried, "I don't ever remember being here…"

"Is that all that worries you?" asked Flash, a little sharply, "Not being here? How about the fact that there is no longer an exit?"

Query shook his head, still trembling. "It does not matter whether or not you see an exit… All that matters if you remember the place… and then find yourself outside."

"Since you don't ever remember being here… that must mean you no memory of this place existing… or an exit ever being in place," said Alex worriedly, understanding Query for once.

"So we are now trapped, and we have no idea if there is even an exit," finished Ventus, "Could it get any worse?"

Then the ground gave way as a gorge of shocking proportions appeared from nowhere, swallowing the team whole. The group gasped in unison as they tumbled down the massive hole. As they struck the ground and the sound of the earth rumbling finally died away, Flash crawled to all fours to survey the place.

The cave within a cave that they now found themselves in was dome-shaped. The walls were smooth and somewhat slimy, and odd carving and strange drawings adorned the entire perimeter. Not even the roof of the cave that stretched far above their heads escaped the unsettling archaic sketches.

Generally something as grand as this in scale would spawn awe and wonder within an observer, but for this place… it only gave birth to uncomfortableness and irrational fear.

"Well," groaned Ventus, "At least now nothing can get worse…"

Then massive stone tendrils shot from the slimy walls to wrap around Ventus, Query, and Alex.

"Just stop talking!" cried Flash as the earth gave way beneath his feet again, dropping him down a deep well.

Flash tried to activate his wings as he fell, but it felt as if he hadn't even muscles in those places. They simply refused to work. And thus he fell many, many meters before coming to a painful crashing halt at the bottom of the well. The bottom was actually somewhat larger than the mouth of the well itself, for the thing opened up gradually like a large flask. This place, like the place he had just been roughly pulled from, was covered in archaic symbols and demonic icons. However, unlike the ones above, these were glowing with unholy black light, and hideous whispers seemed to be emanating from that light, uttering the inglorious secrets of the past, present, and future of all reality. Flash was about to attempt to fly out again when a whisper, louder than all the others, sounded off in his ear.

"Imposter," it said, "You have a choice…"

"What?" asked Flash, his voice sounding small and scared as the horrendous symbols began to shift and dance in crazed movement. The black light seemed to be reaching out to him, to tear at his flesh and to break his bones. "Imposter…? What…?"

"You are not who you say you are, and that makes you an imposter. You do not belong here, your soul is already corrupted," continued the Whisper, "But that shall be rectified."

Suddenly, a large door of obsidian and rotting wood appeared from nowhere in front of Flash as if it had been there the entire time, simply unseen. Another large door appeared came into existence behind him simultaneously.

"The door before you will take you back to your home and your time," said the Whisper in hushed tones, "The door behind you will take you back to those you have deceived that are trapped above… now freed."

Flash looked behind him to one door, then turned to face the door in front of him. He did this again, and again, and again. He did this so quickly that he began to feel dizzy. As he did this, the Whisper continued to talk.

"Take the one to the front, imposter," it continued, "You never look back, for it is not in your nature. You never blink when you snuff out those who have ascended to the dark illumination."

"You mean the zombies? They turned! They are worse than rats," snapped Flash, feeling completely overwhelmed.

"But you have no way to peer within the confines of their mind," the Whisper said, as emotionless as ever, "You do not understand their soul. They have ascended, imposter, they have become greater than you. But you cannot accept that…"

"No… Shut up!" shouted Flash at the top of his lungs. He did not want to hear what the Whisper was saying. It almost made sense.

Silence reigned supreme as Flash's voice echoed off into nothing.

"A way back," muttered Flash to himself, "I have been looking for one all this time. But if I leave my friends, what will happen to them? Limbo has not shown itself to be forgiving… will they die?"

The last phrase was directed to the ever-consuming darkness that surrounded him. There was a pause…

"We do not have eternity for this decision, you are mortal," came the Whisper.

"What should I do?" groaned Flash, realizing it was all up to him, "Unless... Doxia had mentioned that the elements contained massive amounts of energy. Maybe he could use one to make a portal home for himself and his friends."

Flash turned a full circle again, his thoughts contradicting in the frothing sea that was his subconscious, "But what if it goes wrong? What if the whole crystal power was a myth and you would be stuck here, possibly forever?"

Flash shook his head as he finally regained confidence. "No, why would I be here if the elements weren't important? Whoever, or whatever took them knew they were powerful. I must rescue them... I must rescue my friends."

"I choose my friends," said Flash quietly. He reached forward with a hoof to open the door that had been standing behind him. The moment h came in contact with it, the construct crumbled to dust.

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever.

"That was your choice," said the Whisper, "You have shown that there is some light left within you that must be corrupted. You may dwell in here a little longer."

Then the floor began to rise as silent as a brook in the middle of a forest. As it did so, the Whisper spoke one last time.

"Imposter… You have intrigued us beyond our expectations. You soul is unique and black. We will follow you and speak with you again in the shadowed halls of the future…"

Flash did not respond. He was doing his best to mentally tune out the Whisper. It had made too much sense and had spoken in too much of a familiar tone. That tone of voice… it knew. The Whisper knew more about him than any other being he had encountered over his short life…

Flash sighed loud and long as the door that had represented his permanent escape back to his home was covered by the rising earth. He turned to look skyward. In a couple minutes the ground shoved him back into the room he had been in previously. The moment he entered, the stone tentacles that bound his allies relinquished their hold, dropping his friends to the ground.

"I thought you might have been gone forever," said Ventus slowly, "I am glad to see you back."

"Agreed," said Alex, "But you still looked very distressed; what is it?"

"I… I had a chance to go home," sighed Flash, "It was either that or you guys… I chose you guys."

"Thank you," said Ventus quietly.

Alex nodded his head vigorously. "I agree completely! But… but you had a straight shot to home. Why did you not take it?"

Flash shook his head slowly. "I made a deal with someone called 'Doxia.' Before any of this happened, I promised to keep two elements of harmony safe. He told us each one has insane amounts of power. Enough extra-dimensional power that if we find just one we might all have a ticket home."

He turned to Query. "With the exception of you of course. Unless you wanted to try and live life in one of ours."

Query said nothing in reply to this, for he was staring ahead of them. As the rest of the group turned, a large door shimmered into view as if the shadows that were predominate about the hall had been pulled back like a stage curtain.

With a shrieking groan, the door opened. As this happened, a strange new voice spoke loudly over the rusty hinges of the door in a hoarse, malicious voice.

"A confession told, a secret revealed… Otherwise the pass stays sealed…"

Glancing hesitantly at his friends, Alex began to trot towards the door. Soon his allies followed.

The team found themselves on a large balcony that stood before a massive gorge, larger than the one that had swallowed them. The bottom was not visible, and probably did not even exist. Far over the gorge lay another balcony, with a door of obsidian and rotting wood standing slightly ajar.

The hoarse, malicious voice spoke once more, echoing over the black expanse. "A confession told, a secret revealed… Otherwise the pass stays sealed…"

"I stole a pie from a stand when I was a foal?" Ventus lied loudly, clearly fed-up with the horror and evil that hung thickly in the atmosphere of Limbo.

Nothing happened.

"The voice, Harrowing Truth, wants you, Imposter," came Whisper, sounding awfully close to Flash's left ear.

"Shut up!" shouted Flash, snapping his head to the left. Nothing was there.

"Shut… What?" asked Alex.

"You didn't hear that whisper?" asked Flash. Query, Alex, and Ventus shook their heads warily.

"We are with only you, Imposter," said Whisper, "Harrowing Truth wants your secret. The most glorious of ascensions… that you snuffed out."

Flash's stomach turned to ice as he suddenly realized what Whisper was talking about. A tear suddenly formed in his right eye.

"Flash?" said Alex slowly.

Ignoring his friend, Flash slowly stepped closer to the edge of the balcony. He looked over into the abyss, and felt the sentient darkness stare into his soul and revel in the darkness that lay in the corners and crannies. Several murky tears dripped from Flash's face and vanished into nothing, a feast for the evil that fed on pain.

"Years ago, when I was back on Earth..." Flash sniffed, the faintest of tears forming in the corner of his eye. "I wasn't entirely sure my parents were... were bitten." Flash Drive sobbed.

Ventus was confused. "So what happened? What if they were 'bitten'?"

"I KILLED THEM! I GAVE THEM MERCY BECAUSE I THOUGHT THEY WOULD TURN! But... I'm not entirely sure if they were even bitten now..." Flash snapped, the tears coming down with greater force.

Ventus and Alex recoiled slightly.

"This pegasus has a lot on his plate. What is it that makes him want to go back to his home so badly, if it's that bad?" Ventus muttered to himself.

Flash wiped the remaining tears away, and looked up. His eyes were vaguely red, denoting the war that had just been fought within the confines of his mind.

"They were indeed scheduled to ascend," said Whisper to Flash, its voice as quiet and emotionless as a lake on a midday morn, "But even if they were not… You killing them was naught but a misplaced tragedy either way. But it matters not anymore… For Harrowing Truths sees more to feast upon. It is not yet satisfied."

Suddenly half of a massive stone bridge shimmered into existence, spanning half of the gorge of black.

"Half…" muttered Ventus, "One more secret to be told…"

The voice of Harrowing Truth spoke again. "A would-be revenge-taker is standing amongst the now-cleansed sheep. Blood could be dripping. Shall it remain unseen?"

Ventus actually gave a soft gasp of horror. Alex heard it immediately and made the connection.

"Ventus?" he asked quietly, "Do you have something to say? Please say it, we won't think less of you."

"Oh it might." Ventus muttered negatively. "Is this the only option?"

Ventus sighed loud and long, then began.

"I'm... not exactly a friend to all where I've come from. I've said before I was a student of Celestia. Was. She has tried to kill me, and now I am an enemy of hers."

Alex stared "Wha- why would she try to kill you?"

"I don't know! I think she's gone mad, but I'm not sure at this point." Ventus sighed.

Flash nodded. "She and I have had some... err... difficulties in the past. Well... All I'm saying is that I have a vague idea of what happened."

Ventus responded harshly. "Really? Do you? I trusted her! Now I must plot revenge…"

Ventus quickly cut himself off. However, this was all that was needed. The other half of the bridge faded into view, now spanning the whole of the gorge.

The four set off across the bridge. In a moment they were to the slightly ajar door. After steeling himself for yet another horror, Flash pushed the door open. Ahead of them was a hall, with a large pit at the other end. Rusty meat hooks acted as a means of traversing into the depths below. However, none of that compared to the horrors of what was waiting just before the pit: the pony the four had met earlier, Madness.

Madness stared at the group quietly. Finally he whispered, "I see you all have made it this far unscathed. Interesting. Corruption may be a viscus fluid, clawing its way slowly across the surface of a newborn soul, but it stains deep…"

Madness then turned to look at Query, who was scared stiff at the sight of Madness. "Query… You are here. I have not seen you for eons untold. It was unwise of you to travel outside the Plain of Doubts, but you might as well travel to… the very… end…"

Madness then turned to look off at a blank space beside Flash's left.

"Whispers," said Madness, who sounded somewhat interested, "You are interested in this beings end?"

"I am, Lord Madness," murmured Whispers, who actually sounded somewhat cowed in the presence of Madness, "Imposter… He holds many secrets that have given us great interest as we read into them. No other soul that has wandered into Limbo has had such material hidden within its intangible expanses. We shall remain, if only to watch him fail."

Madness nodded, the shadows around him somehow managing to darken even more. "You five should not be on this plain at this time, as I already have insinuated… But your existence has set another river of time in motion. Shall it dry up? Shall it press on?"

Madness tipped his bowler hat in the group's direction. Then he vanished.

"Query?" asked Ventus slowly, "You have been here longer than we have, clearly… Who is Madness?"

"What is Madness, you mean?" breathed Query, "That cannot be answered. He is the shadows that sits within all of our minds. He is the smile that twitches at a face during death. He is the vanishing stars."

Flash sighed. Though he hated to admit it, Query made no sense, and the only recourse seemed to be to consult a being Flash thought was vastly more unsavory.

"Whispers?" murmured Flash, hoping no other being heard him.

"Madness is what Query said," replied Whispers in hushed tones, "He is Madness."

"I don't think we should let this bog us down," said Alex loudly, trying to break the unholy silence that had fallen upon the group like a smothering blanket. "The only path left to us seems to be that pit."

Flash sighed. "Yeah. Let's go."

Flash then trotted up to the longest rusty meat hook chain. He began to climb down, and he was soon followed by the rest. Many minutes passed before the very last being (Alex) reached the bottom. They found themselves in a large circular chamber… almost like an arena.

"Something is very, very, very, very, very wrong," whimpered Query suddenly.

Then a small, child-like voice echoed from the shadows. "He thought of it. Now they are inside with you."

Abruptly a long, sharp, black, tarry blade-tentacle shot out and impaled Query through his chest, spewing blood over the walls.

"INGLORIOUS SHEOL!" shrieked Query with the last of his life as the lifeblood bubbled out of his body to soak the earth.

Like a ragdoll, Query was hurled against a wall. The poor pony smashed into the stone. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"Madness," muttered Whispers to Flash, "He is tired of games. He has reimagined another pawn into this plain of reality. Perhaps this should even be considered a rook."

"Q-Q-Query," breathed Alex, completely shocked at how quickly the life of their friend ended.

Then the murderer, the Inglorious Sheol, writhed its way into their view. It was a mass of tentacles tipped with bloodied blades, all of it black and dripping with tar. Dark smoke bubbled out from nonexistence around it. But none of that was as macabre as the final defining feature: the Inglorious Sheol's face. At the very intersection of all the writhing tentacles was the face of a human child. Its eyes were missing, and it looked as it if was fixed in eternal pain.

"Inglorious Sheol wishes to push the New Ones past Limbo," said the face.

"Madness wants to kill you, simply put," said Whispers to Flash, "I shall watch from a distance. There is too much purity within this rook of Madness for us to consume."

Then the Inglorious Sheol attacked with a screech. The tentacles formed a wall of lightning-fast death. It was by a pure miracle that Ventus and Flash managed to shove Alex out of the way. The Inglorious Sheol recalled its tentacles and struck again with sickening speed, blasting the friends away from each other and sending them painfully skidding to different parts of the room.

"We need to do something!" yelled Alex as he ducked under the tentacles that sought to snuff out his life.

Ventus shot into the air, but in less than a second the terribly fast tentacles wrapped around his back hooves and smashed him into the ground, winding him.

Seeing his teammate in trouble, Flash dashed forward, using his wings as a boost. He managed to dodge the onslaught of tentacles a second time, allowing him to smash in Ventus. This crash sent the two skidding away from a tentacle that was seeking to impale the helpless Ventus.

Alex ducked and dodged a dozen or so tentacles so that he could get beside his friends. They were reunited once more. Then they attempted an attack.

As a tentacle rushed forward, Ventus used his magic to slow it. Flash pulled out a Desert Eagle and fired off a couple shots at what he thought were soft spots. The shells literally smashed into the flesh and crumpled up into little balls. The attack was useless. With a jittering scream, the tentacle broke free of Ventus's magical grip and smashed into the three, sending them flying again.

As they recovered in time to barely dodge yet another onslaught, Alex cried, "Its skin is too thick! There has to be a weakpoint!"

"But where?!" roared Ventus.

"Whispers!" roared Flash, unashamedly calling for the aid of his invisible "acquaintance."

"So amusing," whispered Whispers, "Imposter seeks our help. Hmmmmm... Perhaps getting more involved will hasten the corruption. Inglorious Sheol is the embodiment of the whirlwind that sweeps all that is unholy and unclean from the expanse that is Limbo and spirits them off to an end. I know not where. But though whirlwinds are powerful and seemingly unstoppable, there is always a governing component that is surprisingly weak and malleable… like the newborn soul of a child…"

"The face!" exclaimed Flash, "Just get the face!"

"How?!" shouted Ventus.

"Flash!" cried Alex, "You have a weapon that fires projectiles! We will distract this horror, leaving you with an opening!"

The group exchanged quick and meaningful glances… then leapt into action. Alex rushed for the Inglorious Sheol. This bold move caused the horror to redirect all of its power to snuff out the more prevalent of the gnats. But as all of the tentacles rose into the air as one to murder Alex horribly, Ventus yanked the charging pony back with his magic, causing the onslaught to miss. This was the opening Flash needed. Readying his Desert Eagle, Flash rushed for the back of the Inglorious Sheol. With a scream and a hiss, the monster whirled around to face Flash in the blink of an eye. It retracted its tentacles, screeched, and then shot all of its bladed appendages toward Flash with blinding speed. But it was not faster than a bullet, and Flash was now too close to miss. A bullet struck its child-like face. Then another bullet struck, and then another, and then another. Blood spewed from the wounds, and the Inglorious Sheol began to scream louder than it had ever before. It was so loud, in fact, that the smooth walls of the chamber began to crack, and blood began to ooze from the ears of Flash. The Inglorious Sheol thrashed about, throwing Flash bodily against a wall. The thrashing and writhing continued to increase in intensity, and then suddenly the monster vanished. Almost as if it had never been there in the first place.

And just like that, a door of stone and blood shimmered into view almost simultaneously. As the group sighed (seeing that their journeys were not even close to being over), the slightly ajar door was flung open by a being. This being was the pony Madness.

"I have never truly been surprised in all of eternity, but this has come close to catching my attention. A pawn from the Plain Below is never dealt with easily and with no loss, but yet here you all are," Madness murmured, "Perhaps the path that must be tread is a little longer than expected. I suppose the river will flow for a while still. But the direction it is now going is not something any of you will like."

"What? Are you going to beg us to turn back now?" snapped Flash, who was furious that Madness seemed to take their trials as a drop in the bucket.

"Perhaps reversing your path would be better for your sanity… But I forget myself. None of you had that to begin with, otherwise I would not be visible," said Madness in hushed tones.

"I hate you," snarled Flash.

"Perhaps a fawn hates a hunter for killing its mother, but why would such an emotion give the heavily armed hunter pause? It does not," replied Madness quietly.

Flash said nothing. He simply glared at Madness, prompting the enigmatic embodiment of horror to continue.

"It is all chaff before the scythe anyway, in the end," whispered Madness, "So all I have to say now is this: Welcome to the Land of the MIND."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes. Well, it's been a while. I'm sorry for taking so long. How long has it been? Almost a year, right? Yeah, well, again, I'm sorry. I have no actual excuse. However, I certainly hope I can start updating this story on a regular basis! Probably not honestly, but I can promise you the next chapter will not take about a year to post. But anyways, enjoy this chapter! I put a lot of heart into it, and I will certainly put the same amount of effort into the following chapters, which will be coming out in the near future! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter's Cast:

Eclipse ~ Orbit by The Federation Justice

Greg ~ Human in Equestria: A Voice Within by HUNGRYBURGER25

Mike ~ A New Beginning by Kiliani

* * *

Greg saw the immediate danger in the situation, and so he stepped in.

"These are our… Er… Friends," he said to Eclipse, holding his hands out with the palms up in the universal sign of peace. He knew that Eclipse recognized him, but he was pretty sure she was flustered enough to kill him regardless if he in any way posed a bodily threat.

Eclipse reared up, spreading her wings and making her physical form appear at least twice its regular size. Shadows gathered around her, and the firelight dimmed, almost as if at her command. In a second a thousand magically-charged weapons were pointing at her. Spears, swords, pikes, scythes… All of them sparking and glowing with power. She bared her teeth regardless. "You DARE challenge me? Fools!" Her voice deepened, echoing about the clearing as if the shadows were speaking in unison. "I am Eclipse! I AM THE NIGHT!"

Eclipse jerked. Then her eyes rolled up and she collapsed to the ground, revealing Greg behind her, massaging his bruised fist. Mike blinked, and the facepalmed when he realized what had happened. Shining Armor looked at Greg in an inquisitive manner. He shrugged. "She was going to get us all killed. However, I can assure you that she is NOT a threat. In fact, if we are all on the same side here, she could be your greatest ally. Just think: A Nightmare Moon who is NOT Nightmare Moon. She could pose as the queen and gather intel even our interrogators could not!"

Twilight massaged her temples with the tip of her hooves. "You're right… But his is an awful lot to take in. I don't know if we can trust her. In fact, based off that temper, we definitely can NOT trust her."

Mike nodded, speaking softly. "I know that she can seem short tempered, but you all must understand that she has been through a lot. We're… Um… We're not from around here."

This caused a stir in the little crowd of resistance fighters that had gathered about the fire where Eclipse lay unconscious. What Mike had said was quite obvious, but now it seemed that they would explain the strangeness of the situation. Greg motioned for Mike to give him the floor for a moment. He knew a little more about what was happening than he did, though not as much as Eclipse.

"We're from… Other dimensions," Greg said, thinking carefully about what he was saying. "From what Eclipse has said, there was a disaster in the dimension where she was in which every dimension ever was smashed together into a singular ingot. Rips appeared and people – and ponies – were sucked through willy-nilly. Mike and I were some of those victims, and so was Eclipse. And so here we are, three strangers from different universes trapped in yet another foreign dimension… Here."

Most ponies (especially Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash) looked especially confused; however, Twilight looked like she understood. The purple pony nodded. "That… Actually makes sense. From all my studies I've never once heard-tell of weird… Thingies like you."

"Humans," interjected Mike, not too happy with being called a "thingy."

Twilight glanced at the human to let him know she had heard his comment, but continued with what she was saying. "… And we haven't seen copies of ponies like this pony here since our Nightmare Moon had the Mirror Pool vaporized and salted."

"But how do we know that Nightmare Moon didn't keep some of the water for herself when she had the pool destroyed?" mentioned Shining Armor sharply, still not convinced. "How do we know this 'Eclipse' pony isn't actually a Mirror Pool copy of Nightmare Moon? All of this could be an elaborate trap to kill us all!"

A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Greg began to tense his muscles as he saw weapons begin to stir again. Fortunately Twilight came to their rescue.

"I don't think so, big brother. I ran tests on the destroyed Mirror Pool, and found that it was the location itself that was magical, not the water and its properties. This pony is unique… Right?"

Mike nodded his head stoutly. "Yes."

Twilight stared at Mike for a moment, and then gave him a little smile. She felt like she could trust him, definitely more than Eclipse or Greg. She nodded back. "Greg is right. This Eclipse pony could prove to be useful, as long as we don't make her an enemy by waggling our weapons under her nose."

She looked accusingly at Rainbow Dash, who sheathed her sword with a sheepish grin. Suddenly Eclipse began to stir for the second time. Instinctively every pony began to back away in fear. Nightmare Moon had programmed her appearance to be almost synonymous with fear. Mike got down on his knees and took Nightmare Moon's face in her hands, making sure that the first think she would see when she woke was him, and not the strange ponies with weapons around them. Eclipse opened her eyes. She smiled a little.

"Langley? No… Mike. Where are we?" She tried to sound commanding, but all she could manage was to sound tired and groggy.

Mike smiled back. "We're safe with some friends. Remember Twilight? I know you don't like her, but they want to keep us safe from your evil copy. She tried to kill you."

Eclipse closed her eyes as she remembered. When she opened them again her eyes were hardened with anger. The Nightmare Moon imposter had tried to murder her.

"She'll… Pay… For that," Eclipse murmured, struggling to get up.

Greg leapt in to help her to her hooves, trying not to think about how he had just clocked her on the back of her head not ten minutes earlier. "You're right," he said. "She'll pay. But she is powerful, remember? She was powerful enough to defeat us all in single combat. We're going to need help to get your revenge. That's were Twilight, Shining Armor, and the rest come in."

Eclipse looked at Twilight, who actually shrunk back under the dark blue alicorn's blazing gaze. Eclipse then nodded in an almost amiable way. "You are indeed correct, Greg. We will need help."

There was an audible sigh from the camp, and a clatter as many ponies dropped their weapons in an effort to hastily hide the fact that they had been drawn and had been pointing directly at Eclipse.

Twilight looked like she had almost wet herself. But after a second of relieved breathing, she straightened up and cleared her throat. "Ummmm… So can we count on your help, Eclipse?"

Eclipse snorted. "Indeed. But only my friends call me Eclipse. You are not my friend. You may call me Nighmare M… No. Yes, you may call me Eclipse."

Eclipse trotted a little ways away from the campfire that marked the center of the Resistance camp. She looked up through a clearing in the trees, gazing upon the night sky. She had seen it earlier, and now she was certain: The silky dark blue ether above was definitely diseased. The firmament of black was not the calm, serene ocean of sky that she loved so dearly. It was oily and filthy, clogged with untold amounts of rotting black magic. She looked down again, her eyes burning with unholy fire. "What must I do to make this Nightmare Moon imposter pay?"

Shining Armor smiled his first honest smile in a while, breathing out a sigh of relief. "We have a plan, but in involves a lot of work and tact. However, thanks to the fact that you are practically a clone of the evil queen herself, this should not be difficult."

Eclipse cocked her head to one side regally, prompting Shining Armor to continue. He did so. "So, we've recently received intelligence that Nightmare Moon has something… New up here sleeve. New magic or something. Twilight?"

Twilight bobbed her head. "A gem. Our inside source – a pony named Rarity – described it to be a massive jewel of glorious magenta. It is said that it glows with incredible majesty! I cannot tell you how worried I am about this news."

Eclipse's eyes had been slowly widening as Twilight had spoken. Now her eyes were the size of dinner plates. Mike noticed this. "Eclipse? Are you okay?"

Eclipse noticed her composure and quickly corrected it with a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "Oh… Indeed. However, I can, with a heavy heart, concur with Twilight's worries. That gem is no ordinary gem."

Twilight blinked. "Do you know of it? Do you have something like it in your dimension?"

Eclipse shook her head. "No. There is nothing else like it in the entire Multiverse… Or so my friend Doxia said."

Greg cocked his head to one side. "What? Eclipse… Could you please explain?"

Eclipse nodded, motioning for Greg, Mike, Shining Armor, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash to draw nearer.

"Before the calamity that drew me and my friends here, I was being tasked by Doxia – for ease of comprehension, I suppose I can call him a god – to take into my charge two Elements of Harmony. However, these Elements are not like the ones I have in my home dimension, and they are not like the ones you have in this one. These Elements are the Prime Elements, purer than anything and more powerful than all the black magic in any one world… Well, at least that was what Doxia said. He and his friend Mattimeo – another god – found all six, and made an executive decision to separate them between me, my husband Langley, and four others. My husband and I took the Element of Laughter and the Element of Generosity. We were to take them with us into our respective homes to keep them apart… But then the infinite alternate dimensions collided and portals opened up, sucking us all into unknown lands… Ending with me landing here. But as I was pulled into this place, I lost the Elements, and I can only assume that the Nightmare Moon imposter has found one… The Element of Laughter."

Twilight groaned. "Did this god – Doxia, right? – say anything on the power of these individual Elements of Harmony?"

Eclipse shook her head. "He said very little on it. However, from what he did say I can report this: They are beyond any of us. One single Element, when misused, can spell disaster for any realm, for any dimension."

The only one who didn't look apprehensive was Shining Star, who set his jaw into a grim line. "Right. This piece of news simply means that we must focus all the more upon our mission: To steal this Element. Ever since our spy Rarity told us about the appearance of this gem – which has been here for about a week before your appearance, I will add – we've been preparing to capture it before it can be used against us. Unfortunately, our latest Intel has informed us that the gem has been moved from the Castle of the Two Sisters to the Obsidian Fortress. That place is a legend amongst us ponies. The most secure facility on the planet, bar none. No one beside Nightmare Moon and her most trusted aides know where it is."

Greg rubbed his eyes and sighed tiredly. "Great. So how do we find out where it is?"

Shining Armor actually smiled a little. "We know where one of these 'most trusted aides' is. And now that we have Eclipse on our side, we can get her to get him to give her all the information we need without him suspecting a single thing."

Eclipse interrupted eagerly. "This idea is tolerable. Continue."

Rolling his eyes, Shining Armor continued with his plan. "Yes. There is a garrison near the Ghastly Gorge that is soon undergoing inspection by one of the aides. His name is Commandant Rich. Filthy Rich, to be precise. He will be inspecting this garrison tomorrow. What Eclipse will need to do is infiltrate the location and find the Commandant. When she does, she will get him to tell us the location of the Obsidian Fortress."

"We will need to be careful," interjected Mike. "Nightmare Moon saw Eclipse, and she now knows there is an identical copy of her running free in her lands. No doubt a warning will be issued wide-spread."

"You are absolutely right, Mike," said Twilight, "But we don't have to worry about that just yet. The public magical airways have been blocked by our mages, and all public roads have been either destroyed or barricaded by us or our allies. Word will take much longer than two days to spread properly. It'll be a gamble, but we must hope that the Commandant has not heard of the imposter before Eclipse has time to meet with him."

"I shall support this plan," declared Eclipse. "It is good. But I have one condition: Mike and Greg come with me. We are strangers in a foreign land together, and I would prefer we stick together." Eclipse blushed a little. She couldn't believe she was saying these thoughts out loud, but she felt like something horrible would happen if she let either of them out of her sight.

Rubbing his temples with the tip of his hooves, Shining Armor agreed. "Fine. They both seem very proficient in fighting, better than many of our freedom fighters I would say. They will come with you to secure the garrison, but they cannot be seen when you interrogate the Commandant, Eclipse. That could jeporadize the entire mission. But if all goes well… We have a chance now."

"Agreed," snorted Eclipse. "I know the plan, and I know how to execute it. Is there a place I may retire now?"

Shining Armor nodded. "Ummmmm… Yeah… Follow me. I know someone. You can sleep in Fluttershy's tent. She's a friend of mine and Twilight's, and the kindest pony I know. She'll probably be the least likely to try and slit your throat in your sleep…"

Shining Armor quickly shut up with the glare that Eclipse gave her. In frosty silence the two ponies walked off into the shadows. Greg looked around. Then, in an almost surreptitious manner, he melted into the darkness as well and was gone. Mike shrugged. His companions were very strange. Greg was mysterious, but it was obvious his mind was not right, almost as if it was at war with itself. Eclipse, on the other hand, was terrified. He could see it in her eyes. She was doing her best to keep her composure, but this land scared her, and she felt all alone. Mike frowned. He hoped he could comfort her and explain to her otherwise. She was right after all: They were strangers in a strange land. That made the bonds of friendship all that stronger. Mike glanced to his right and saw that Twilight had joined him by the fire. She was looking at him with almost an air of longing, making him feel rather uncomfortable.

"Ummmm… Hey," he murmured. "How are you?"

Twilight didn't reply for a moment. She just continued to stare at him in silence. Then, suddenly, she blurted out, "What is it like?"

Mike blinked. "Huh? What is what like?"

"I mean… In your dimension. What is it like?"

Mike smiled a little. Then he shrugged. "I come from two dimensions actually. I wasn't born in an alternate Equestria. I came from a place called Earth."

Twilight said nothing, so Mike continued. "Earth is like Equestria… But for humans. In that place there are no ponies… Well, there are, but they're not intelligent like we are. Humans use them to ride around places. On Earth… There really is no difference between here and there, actually. War, fear. All of those things are prevalent there just as much as there are here. But unlike here, there is sunlight, but all it does is help cloak the evil and darkness festering. But that is of the past. I was pulled from Earth and deposited in my Equestria, much like I was pulled from there to be deposited here. My Equestria is a completely different world from this one. Nightmare Moon was defeated and banished for a thousand years on the moon… But when she was returned she was reformed by… Well, by you and five others: Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. All six of you took on Nightmare Moon and defeated her, transforming her back into Luna. She then returned to be with Celestia, and they began to rule Equestria with love and kindness."

Mike looked to Twilight and was surprised to see silent tears streaming down the young unicorn's face. Mike sighed. "I know. There is so much pain and suffering here…"

There was a moment of silence. And then Twilight started to talk in between sobs. "It seems our world was similar… Up until Nightmare Moon's defeat. Here Celestia was the one defeated. She was defeated and banished to the sun for a thousand years, and Nightmare Moon cast upon this land an endless night. But all hope was not lost. A small band of Resistance fighters, started by my father's ancestor in coalition with Starswirl the Bearded, rose up to fight against Nightmare Moon and the darkness. Though it was small, it was resilient, and has lasted through the years, enduring even now. I was born into the Resistance, and so was my brother. During my younger years I thought this would be my life forever, fighting fruitlessly against a darkness so overpowering and so unstoppable that our only hope was to survive until the next generation… But then I found it: A prophecy. It was a book, buried deep within the dungeons of the Castle of the Two Sisters. It told of the returning of Celestia, the pony of goodness and light, who had been locked away for a thousand years. According to the book… Those thousand years are almost up, and Celestia will be returning during the advent of the next Midnight Moon Celebration, an occasion celebrating the victories of the evil queen. That was a year ago, and the time of Celestia's return is near. After the day I discovered the prophecy, the Resistance has grown tenfold, and we have been doing all we can to weaken Nightmare Moon's grasp on Equestria, preparing the land for the return of the Princess of the Sun. For many months I thought we were beginning to win… But then Nightmare Moon found out about the prophecy. Perhaps she managed to get a copy of my book, perhaps she knew all along… Either way, now she has been killing ponies and razing entire cities for fun, sowing chaos and fear, and destroying willpower. Morale has never been lower in the face of this genocide. And now she has this Element of Harmony that Eclipse spoke of."

Twilight broke down crying. Mike was torn between comforting her through contact or scooting as far away as possible. In the end he did nothing, staring deep into the fire with a sympathetic look upon his face. "Don't despair, Twilight. Not all is lost. As Shining Armor said: We have a chance now."

Twilight wiped away her tears and nodded with a watery smile twitching at her muzzle. "You're right of course, Mike. Of course. I only hope all will go well."

Mike couldn't help but crack a grin. "I have full confidence. I've only known my comrades for a day, but I know you can trust them. They are skilled beyond belief."

Twilight nodded her head slowly, then cocked her head to one side and looked at Mike. "But what about you?"

Mike shrugged, still grinning. "Me? I'm a nobody. I'm normal."

Twilight scooted a bit closer (causing Mike to scoot a little farther away). "But that can make you all the more powerful."

Scratching the back of his neck, Mike thought carefully about what Twilight had just said. His grin grew a little wider. "You know what? You're right. Thank you Twilight."

At that moment Mike decided to stand up. He stretched and smiled down at Twilight. "Ummmm… Do you have a place I could stay for a bit? I'm dead tired. Oh, and I would prefer if it is a safe distance from where Eclipse is staying. She scares the heck out of me."

Twilight nodded. "You can bunk down with Shining Armor. I'm sure he won't mind. He doesn't sleep very much anymore… Neither do I to be honest. What about your friend Greg?"

Still stretching, Mike yawned as he replied. "Not the slightest idea. But don't worry. He's… Troubled, I think. I don't know for sure, but I know he has a lot on his mind. Let him be… Wherever he is. He'll be back when we need him. Always."

Twilight got up as well. "I hope you're right. It looks like you three may be our only hope."

Mike shrugged. "If it's not us, then it'll be someone else. No matter what happens, there will always be good that rises up to strike down the darkness. How can evil win when there is so much good in this world?"


End file.
